Wall Street’s main market gauges were little changed in early trading with traders opting to sit on their hands ahead of Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference scheduled for the afternoon.
As of 1705 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 were drifting lower by 0.06% to 34,278.17 and 4,244.18, respectively.
The Nasdaq Composite on the other hand was up 0.02% to 14,075.55.
Only minor changes were anticipated in the central bank’s policy statement.
However, economists at Barclays Research told clients it was a “close call” whether the so-called ‘dot-plot’ diagram, which was published alongside the policy statement, would still show that top Fed officials were expecting the first interest rate hike not to occur until the end of 2023.
There was also the question of when the central bank might start to taper its asset purchases, although top Fed officials had already flagged in speeches that such discussions might begin soon – even if actual tapering was still some ways off.
For Sophie Griffiths at Oanda, the impact of the Fed’s remarks could be felt in foreign exchange markets.
“Should the Fed stick unwaveringly to its supportive stance, the US dollar could fall steeply,” Griffiths said.
“Meanwhile, any acknowledgement that taper talk needs to begin, and the greenback could shoot higher, with EUR/USD dropping to around 1.20.”
In the corporate arena, overnight Citigroup chief financial officer, Mark Mason, told a conferenced hosted by Morgan Stanley that trading revenues could fall by around 30% in the second quarter as the pandemic-fuelled boom slows down.
Regeneron shares were 0.84% higher after a large trial showed that its antibody cocktail cut the risk of death among Covid-19 patients in the hospital by 20%.
WalkMe’s initial public offering had reportedly been priced to go at $31 per share, versus an anticipated IPO range of $29 to $32.
Dow Jones – Risers
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $77.25 2.05%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $242.35 1.04%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $130.27 0.49%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $402.09 0.45%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $130.79 0.38%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $243.51 0.38%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $164.90 0.25%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $258.92 0.22%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $154.82 0.13%
American Express Co. (AXP) $166.46 0.12%
Dow Jones – Fallers
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $65.86 -2.02%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $138.52 -1.06%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $55.03 -0.68%
Visa Inc. (V) $231.48 -0.64%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $304.83 -0.53%
3M Co. (MMM) $199.78 -0.41%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $57.07 -0.38%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $148.79 -0.38%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $154.61 -0.37%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $369.96 -0.36%
S&P 500 – Risers
Centene Corp. (CNC) $74.06 5.80%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $36.08 4.46%
Macerich Co (MAC) $17.80 4.09%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $41.64 3.69%
Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $9.09 3.18%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $41.71 2.81%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $34.42 2.76%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $31.70 2.70%
HollyFrontier Corp (HFC) $35.89 2.66%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $29.36 2.62%
S&P 500 – Fallers
H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $22.90 -9.34%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $77.14 -5.51%
Citigroup Inc. (C) $71.33 -3.37%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $172.69 -3.31%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $109.77 -3.08%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $214.75 -2.88%
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN) $14.15 -2.14%
Snap On Inc. (SNA) $226.45 -2.01%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $97.32 -1.88%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $19.84 -1.85%
Nasdaq 100 – Risers
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $41.64 3.69%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $72.17 1.88%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $37.76 1.82%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $68.89 1.17%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $242.35 1.04%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $83.62 1.04%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $532.38 0.93%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $707.03 0.75%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $155.05 0.71%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $22.94 0.66%
Nasdaq 100 – Fallers
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $172.69 -3.31%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $109.19 -1.75%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $13.55 -1.35%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $94.74 -1.28%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $143.19 -1.11%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $6.56 -1.06%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $79.48 -0.95%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $94.23 -0.94%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $74.24 -0.91%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $447.79 -0.89%
