Wall Street braces for the Fed, bulls under water in a sea of red still
- As move towards the FOMC today, US stocks continue to struggle.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average is off by about 154 points, or 0.60%, at 25,695, while the S&P 500 index SPX, is sliding 0.54% at 2,817, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP,is off by 0.36% at 7,696.
U.S. stock benchmarks on Wednesday started out the day on the back foot, troubled by mixed outlooks with regards to Sino/US trade talks and what the outcome of the FOMC might mean for stocks and the US economy amidst a global backdrop of problematic economic prospects.
One of the biggest drags on the market today, however, was shares of FedEx Corp. FDX, -4.97% at the time of writing at 172.56, but had been as low as 168.70 at one point, with an opening gap all the way from 181.49 - a huge drop. The stock is often viewed as a barometer of global growth prospects - (The logistics company missed Wall Street forecasts for its fiscal third quarter).
Fed outlook
However, with the FOMC expected to reiterate a dovish stance, stocks should find some relief there. The Fed will release its economic forecasts at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, and Powell will host a news conference a half-hour later. The market is divided as to what the next move from the Fed will be, some even still expecting a rate hike this year and that too has been a weight on the market following a wobble after yesterday's Bloomberg News report that said China had been pushing back against U.S. demands in trade talks, while The Wall Street Journal reported that high-level talks were set to resume and that negotiators aim to close an agreement by next month, indicating that Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin planned to go to Beijing next week, in an effort to complete a tariff agreement.
DJIA levels
The DJIA is chipping into last week’s winning streak and has been unable to sustain territory above the 26000 level having scored a 26109 yesterday. A continuation to the downside will open a move to 25186 being the 23.6% retracement of the late Dec swing lows to late Feb swing highs.
- Support levels: 25629 25445 24962
- Resistance levels: 26121 26378 26829