Stock futures inch higher ahead of Fed’s big rate decision
[ad_1]
Overnight trading saw stock futures rise as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s major interest rate decision Wednesday. central bank is widely expected to hike rates by half a percentage point.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat. S&P 500 futures inched 0.11% higher, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.19%.
Markets prepare for a Fed that’s hawkish. The central bank also plans to announce an announcement of a $95 billion monthly plan to trim its balance sheet, which is roughly $9 trillion, starting June.
Respondents to this May CNBC Fed Survey indicated they expect the central bank to announce the long-anticipated 50 basis point hike on WednesdayIt is expected to follow up with another in June. Survey results showed that the overwhelming majority of respondents expected a recession following the tightening cycles.
Bridgewater’s chief investor strategist Rebecca Patterson said on CNBC’s Tuesday “Closing Bell” that “the market’s pricing is in a position where inflation will be back at pre-pandemic level within the next two years with very modest Fed tightening.” We believe that the Fed will have to tighten faster than anticipated to bring inflation within their target range or it will be more volatile than we expect.
Lyft plunged 25% on Tuesday in extended trading after Lyft shared its weak guidance regarding the quarter ahead. The ridesharing company said it expected to increase driver supply and therefore Lyft fell 25%. Airbnb rose 3.6%, as it expects continued travel recovery. Starbucks grew 2.4% on top of its revenue estimates.
In Tuesday’s regular trading session the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.20%, and the S&P 500 gained 0.48%. Tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%
These moves were made as markets try to rebound from an April tech-led sell-off, which saw the Nasdaq suffer its worst month in 2008 since 2008. The Dow and S&P 500 also finished their worst month since March 2020.
Jan Hatzius (Goldman Sachs chief economist) wrote Tuesday that “if our ‘no recess soon’ call is correct, then we will see the same pattern as before this year: with equity prices punching lower then recovering at most partially so long as there’s no recession materializing, and rates and commodity curves moving higher over the time,”
The S&P 500 is currently trading in correction territory, down about 12.4% year to date. Ryan Detrick, LPL Financial’s CEO, pointed out Tuesday that the current correction is similar to the length and size of corrections made after World War II.
Investors will also be watching earnings reports from CVS Health (Uber), Yum Brands and Yum Brands Wednesday, along with the Fed’s decision.
[ad_2]
