MW Dow slips as investors await Fed update
By Mark DeCambre and Joy Wiltermuth
U.S. stock indexes were trading lower Wednesday afternoon, as Wall Street braces for the latest policy statement from the Federal Reserve on the U.S. economic recovery from COVID and the pace of inflation.
How are stock benchmarks trading?
On Tuesday , the Dow fell 94.42 points, or 0.3%, to 34,299.33; the S&P 500 finished off 8.56 points, or 0.2%, at 4,246.59; the Nasdaq Composite declined 101.29 points, or 0.7%, to 14,072.86.
What's driving the market?
Stocks were trading near session lows ahead of the Fed's inflation outlook on Wednesday, with the U.S. central bank set to offer, at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, updates on its April policy statement, and its projections for where interest rates will stand in the future.
Live blog: Fed decision day and Powell presser
"This is one of the most keenly awaited Fed meetings this year and could be pivotal to market sentiment," Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index, wrote in emailed comments.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is likely to indicate, at a 2:30 p.m. press conference, that policy makers aren't going to change interest rate policy, which stand at a range between 0% and 0.25%, at least through the end of 2022, economists say.
Investors still will be attuned to the Fed's statements on the plan for reducing its easy money policies introduced to combat pandemic's impact on the economy, including its purchases of $80 billion of Treasurys and $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities each month.
Last Thursday's consumer-price index report to a 13-year high of 5%, reflecting a broad increase in prices confronting Americans.
In the face of rising inflation, the timing of any tapering of asset purchases looks tricky for the U.S. central bank, since the recovery in the labor market still looks shaky and is reflected in the weaker-than-expected May nonfarm payrolls report .
Thus far, the Fed has described evidence of inflation as largely derived from transitory factors, including a removal of lockdown protocols intended to damp the spread of coronavirus, as well as supply-chain bottlenecks.
"The focus today is on the potential for future policy changes," Sean Simko, head of fixed income portfolio management at SEI, in emailed comments, adding that Powell may look to "lay the groundwork for changes to its current bond buying program-taper talk," in his afternoon briefing.
Check out:4 things to watch as the Fed makes its latest monetary-policy decision
Some prominent investors and economists have voiced the opinion that the Fed may be too complacent about rising prices and that they that could turn out to be more lasting that the central bank forecasts.
Read: An inflation storm is coming for the U.S. housing market
"We aren't in the camp that says a sustained inflation problem is a done deal, but we do think that the Fed now needs everything to go right if inflation is to return to the target, as per the March forecasts, by the end of next year," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a note.
A CNBC Fed survey indicates that market participants think that the central bank may hold its bond-buying program steady through the end of the year, but begin to signal its intent to taper by October and begin doing so by the start of 2022.
Internationally, China said it plans to release national reserves for a third straight month in May. Chinese industrial production rose 8.8% in May from a year ago, slower than the 9.8% uptick in April.
Elsewhere, annual inflation in the U.K. exceeded the Bank of England's target in May for the first time in almost two years. Consumer prices rose 2.1% on the year in May, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday, the fastest pace of growth since July 2019.
In other economic news, U.S. housing permits dropped 3% in May to 1.68 million yearly pace, while starts climbed 3.6% to 1.57 million annual rate. April U.S. housing starts fell to 1.52 million from 1.76 million. U.S. import prices rose 1.1% in May--and were up 0.9% minus fuel--contributing to an 11.3% in the past 12 months.
-Mark DeCambre; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
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June 16, 2021 13:37 ET (17:37 GMT)
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