The Fed’s Monetary Policy announcement is likely to be in focus on Wednesday. Asian shares finished mostly down, while European shares are also broadly in negative territory.
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Russia’s rejection of a full ceasefire and other geopolitical developments are also influencing investor sentiments.
In the Asian trading session, gold held near record highs while oil extended losses.
Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open broadly up.
As of 8.20 am ET, the Dow futures were down 2.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 9.50 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were 58.25 points.
The U.S. major averages ended Tuesday in negative zone. The Nasdaq tumbled 304.55 points or 1.7 percent to 17,504.12, the S&P 500 slumped 60.46 points or 1.1 percent to 5,614.66 and the Dow slid 260.32 points or 0.6 percent to 41,581.31.
On the economic front, the Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations for March will be issued at 10.00 am ET. In the prior month, the inflation expectations were up 2.3 percent.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA’s Petroleum Status Report for the week is scheduled at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the Crude Oil Inventories were up 1.4 million barrels and the Gasoline Inventories were down 5.7 million barrels.
The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC announcement is expected at 2.00 pm ET. The consensus is for no change in rates this time.
The Fed Chair Press Conference will be held at 2.30 pm ET.
The Treasury International Capital for January will be at 4.00 pm ET. In the prior month the transactions were up $72.0 billion.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai Composite index finished marginally lower at 3,426.43.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended up 0.12 percent at 24,771.14.
Japanese markets ended slightly lower. The Nikkei average dropped 0.25 percent to 37,751.88 while the broader Topix index settled 0.45 percent higher at 2,795.96.
Australian markets ended lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.41 percent to 7,828.30. The broader All Ordinaries index closed 0.43 percent lower at 8,055.30.
Business News
Wall Street Might Open Broadly Up
2025-03-19 12:48:55
