Fed Watch

Markets Flat as Investors Await Fed Decision

PUBLISHED  | 2 min read
Thomas White

Thomas White

Co-Host

U.S. stock futures were relatively flat in premarket trading with investors awaiting a monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve at 2 p.m. ET followed by the first news conference from new Chairman Kevin Warsh.

Stocks are coming off a mixed session, with the Dow Index hitting a record high while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 fell. Tuesday’s losses were concentrated in tech as traders rotated out of chip stocks. Energy names slumped along the price of oil as investors assess the U.S.-Iran peace deal and the resumption of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices were moving higher early Wednesday.

In addition to a Fed-decision focus, investors will be watching geopolitical headlines and economic data. May Retail Sales and pending home sales are due Wednesday morning.  

Snapshot (as of 8 AM ET)

  • Oil (/CL) – U.S. oil prices futures are up about 1% to roughly $76
  • Gold (/GC) – Gold is down 0.23% to 4344.30
  • Bitcoin (/BTC) – The cryptocurrency futures are down 1.31% to 64,480
  • VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index was up 0.37% to 16.47
  • U.S. Dollar ($DXY) – The U.S. dollar index is up 0.145 to 99.687

Biggest Premarket Movers (as of 8 AM ET)

Advancers:

  • Applied Materials (AMAT) 2.42%
  • Intel Corp (INTC) 2.39%
  • Micron Technology Inc (MU) 2.28%
  • Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) 2.01%
  • KLA Corp (KLAC) 1.97%

Decliners:

  • Oracle Corp (ORCL) -1.02%
  • Leidos Holdings Inc (LDOS) -1.00%
  • ResMed Inc (RMD) -1.00%
  • IQVIA Holdings Inc (IQV) -1.00%
  • First Solar Inc (FSLR) -0.89%

Economic Data (ET)

  • 07:00AM MBA Mortgage Applications
  • 08:30AM Retail Sales
  • 10:00AM Business Inventories
  • 10:00AM Pending Home Sales
  • 10:00AM Atlanta Fed Business Inflation
  • 10:30AM Oil Inventories
  • 02:00PM FOMC Announcement
  • 02:30PM Fed Chair Presser

Notable Earnings

  • Premarket: KMX, JBL, PGR
  • Postmarket: SB
  • Premarket Thursday: ACN, KR
  • Postmarket Thursday: None

Upgrades/Downgrades

  • Morgan Stanley upgrades Charles River Laboratories (CRL) from Equal Weight to Overweight
  • JPMorgan upgrades Macerich (MAC) from Underweight to Neutral
  • Wells Fargo upgrades Carter’s (CRI) from Underweight to Equal Weight
  • BofA downgrades Leidos (LDOS) from Buy to Neutral
  • Berenberg downgrades Cognizant (CTSH) from Buy to Hold
This material is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered a personalized recommendation or investment advice. Investors should review investment strategies for their own particular situations before making any decisions.
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