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10/06/24
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Wall Street Wary Before Fed Meeting, Key Inflation Data
On Monday, the Dow was flat, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq moved higher, as investors remained cautious before a Federal Reserve meeting this week which may provide cues on the central bank’s policy path as well as a key inflation reading.
The S&P 500 pared early declines, while gains in companies including Broadcom, Amazon.com, and Microsoft helped the Nasdaq trade slightly up. Those shares rose between 2.5% and 0.8%.
This week, the focus will be on the May Consumer Price Index inflation report and the end of the Fed’s policy meeting, both on Wednesday. The central bank, which will release updated policy and economic forecasts, is generally expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
After Friday’s strong jobs data for May, markets reduced expectations for rate cuts in Sept. with the odds of a cut at 50%.
Last week, expectations rose to as high as 69%. Unemployment had, however, inched higher and household surveys showed indications of economic distress.
The financials sector performed the worst, led by a 6.1% decline in regional lender Huntington Bancshares.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 57.16 points, or 0.33%, at 17,190.29, the S&P 500 was up 7.94 points, or 0.15%, at 5,354.93, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19.65 points, or 0.05%, at 38,779.34.
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