An Hour Ago
November producer price index due out Wednesday
The November producer price index set for release Wednesday morning is expected to show a rise of 0.1%, up from a 0.5% decline the prior month, according to economists polled by Dow Jones. Excluding food and energy, it’s anticipated to have risen 0.2%, up from a flat reading the previous month.
The data is due out 8:30 a.m. ET.
— Sarah Min
An Hour Ago
Fed’s big rate policy decision looms. Here’s what to expect on Wednesday
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold steady on interest rates when its two-day meeting concludes at 2 p.m. ET.
The real action – and potential market mover – will be how central bank policymakers proceed from here and whether its messaging will hold any clues on the next steps for rates.
Economists and traders will have an eye out for the central bank’s statement, which should have the details on how the Federal Open Market Committee is perceiving the state of employment, inflation and economic growth.
This time, the Fed will also issue its dot plot, a grid of members’ projections for the fed funds rate. This is where market participants might get some insight on where policymakers stand on the expected timing of cuts.
Fed Chair Powell’s press conference, which traders will watch closely, will also offer additional context on the Fed’s decision – as well as where policy may go from here. The event could be a market-moving one.
Read more about the Fed’s big decision here.
–Darla Mercado, Jeff Cox
An Hour Ago
Volatility index closed Tuesday at a 4-year low, BTIG’s Krinsky says
The CBOE Market Volatility Index that tracks expected moves in the S&P 500 over the next 30 days but is commonly thought of as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” dropped another 4.5% to 12.07 on Tuesday, a level that BTIG technical analyst Jonathan Krinsky said was the lowest close since Nov. 2019. “It feels as though ‘not a creature is stirring’,” Krinsky wrote in a midday note on Tuesday.
Stocks have rallied since Halloween, and Krinsky noted that, “Uptrends can clearly sustain longer than many anticipate, but given where the VIX is and some of these divergences, we would stay on our toes here.”
Conditions may soon mimic those in early 2018, when both the VIX and the S&P 500 rose at the same time after the VIX traded below 9 in Nov. 2017, “which led to a ‘blowoff’ of sorts into late January … Should markets stay bid into year-end, that scenario would gain some credence,” Krinsky wrote.
— Scott Schnipper, Michael Bloom
An Hour Ago
