Dow Jones futures were little changed overnight, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, with attention turning to Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting and whether policymakers will confirm or dash Fed pivot hopes.
X
The stock market rally reversed lower from early gains Tuesday as stronger-than-expected economic data was not what the Fed wants to see. Megacap techs continue to weigh on the indexes, especially the Nasdaq. Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) tumbled to fresh bear-market lows while Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT).
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), lithium producer Livent (LTHM), drug distributor McKesson (MCK), Paycom Software (PAYC), and shale oil and gas producer Devon Energy (DVN) headlined key earnings overnight.
AMD stock rose despite weak results. Livent fell as hot revenue growth wasn’t quite hot enough. Devon Energy stock retreated on a dividend but. PAYC stock edged higher on strong earnings while MCK stock was not yet trading after mixed results.
DVN stock is on the IBD 50.
Meanwhile Tesla (TSLA) rival BYD (BYDDF) will report October sales soon, following lackluster-at-best deliveries from Nio (NIO), Li Auto (LI) and Xpeng (XPEV). BYD stock rose 2.6% Tuesday, while Tesla stock closed up 0.1%, both off intraday highs.
Fed Meeting
The Federal Reserve is expected to increase rates by 75 basis points for a fourth straight meeting. But the market is split over whether policymakers will hike rates by 50 or 75 basis points in December.
Some relatively tame inflation data and various central bank moves around the world — including a few hints from Fed officials — have bolstered hopes of a Fed pivot to smaller rate hikes.
The Fed policy statement is due out at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, with Fed chief Jerome Powell’s news conference at 2:30 p.m. Investors will be looking for any Fed pivot hints. Powell may not want to give clear signals to maintain maximum flexibility.
The Fed chief will likely include caveats about reacting to key data. The October jobs report is due on Friday, following a stronger-than-expected…
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