The Fed will conclude its December meeting later today
The Federal Reserve will wrap up its December meeting later today, and investors are already anticipating the central bank to issue a 50 basis-point interest rate hike, which is smaller than the four consecutive 75 basis-point rate increases seen earlier this year. In addition, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will discuss what's on tap for the Fed in 2023. Stock futures are unchanged ahead of these updates, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures all hovering just below breakeven.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Could the end of the month bring tailwinds to Wall Street?
- Software stock sees post-earnings options surge.
- Plus, Delta Air Lines' strong outlook; and 2 of today's biggest analyst calls.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.3 million call contracts and 923,750 put contracts exchanged on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.70 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.73.
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Citing strong travel demand,
Delta Air Lines, Inc (NYSE:DAL) hiked its fourth-quarter forecast and issued an upbeat 2023 outlook. In response, shares of
the airline giant boast a 4% premarket lead, and stand 19% higher this quarter.
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Goldman Sachs issued a bear note for
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), sending the electric vehicle (EV) powerhouse 1.3% lower ahead of the open. The brokerage firm slashed its price objective to $235 from $305 amid weaker demand. Year-over-year, TSLA carries a
50% deficit.
- Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) is 4% lower before the bell, after a downgrade from Bank of America Securities to "underperform" from "neutral." The firm said earnings growth could become difficult to achieve due to a challenging environment.
- The import price index and Federal funds rate announcement are scheduled for today. The summary of economic projections (SEP) median federal funds rate for end of 2023 will also be in focus, in addition to a news conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
Morgan Stanley Hikes China's 2023 Economic Outlook
Most Asian markets took advantage of the CPI tailwinds today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.7%. China’s Shanghai Composite sat out from the gains and finished nearly flat, after China postponed a key policy meeting amid a Covid outbreak. Nevertheless, Morgan Stanley did raise its 2023 economic outlook for China this morning. Rounding out the region, South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.1%.
Stocks are mostly red right now over in Europe, with all eyes on the Fed meeting later today in the U.S. London’s FTSE 100 is down 0.2% at last check, the French CAC 40 is 0.4% lower, while the German DAX is off by 0.7%.