U.S. stocks are higher on Wednesday as investors await the latest Federal Reserve decision on interest rates later today.
At 11:10 ET (15:10 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 212 points or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.9%.
The main indices on Wall Street closed the month higher for the day, attempting to regain their footing at the end of a bruising October.
The blue chip Dow fell 1.4% and the broad-based S&P dropped 2.2% last month, resulting in their first three-month losing streak since March 2020. The tech-heavy fell 2.8%, its worst October since 2018.
Fed’s policy decision in spotlight
Investors have been worried about the potential for the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates at elevated levels, or even higher, for longer than previously expected, especially in the wake of last week’s strong third quarter economic growth estimates.
The U.S. central bank concludes its latest two-day policy meeting later in the session. Investors widely expect the Fed to hold rates steady, and comments from Chair Jerome Powell will again take the spotlight as investors parse every word to gauge if another interest rate increase is on the cards later this year.
ADP payrolls lower than expected ahead of Friday’s key report
There are plenty of economic releases to digest Wednesday, including the October ADP private sector payrolls, which came in at a lower than expected 113,000 though still stronger than the last reading. September JOLTS job openings were a higher than expected 9.55 million.
These come ahead of Friday’s jobs report which will give the Fed and investors a new detailed reading on the state of the still-tight labor market.
Investors will also keep an eye on the country’s future refinancing plans, with yields close to historic highs, even after the Treasury forecasted a lower fourth-quarter borrowing need than previously flagged.
Earnings season continues in force
There are a number of companies due to report earnings, including fintech PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) and home share company Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB). Norwegian Cruise Lines beat profit expectations but guided to fourth quarter results below expectations citing operational impacts from external events including the conflict in the Middle East. Shares fell 1.6%.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) stock rose more than 7% after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue and gross margins below Wall Street estimates.
Match Group (NASDAQ:MTCH) stock slumped 17% after the Tinder dating app parent offered up disappointing revenue guidance for the fourth quarter.
Oil gains ahead of Fed decision
Oil prices rose Wednesday in cautious trading ahead of the conclusion of the latest Fed meeting, with traders also closely watching the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute industry body indicated, on Tuesday, that U.S. oil inventories rose 1.3 million barrels last week, slightly less than expected.
Official data from the Energy Information Administration is due later in the session.
—Peter Nurse contributed to this report
https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/dow-futures-weaken-ahead-of-fed-decision-corporate-earnings-continue-to-flow-3216759
