Wednesday's Stock Market Open: Investors Focus Attention On Fed Interest Rate Decision

Investors focused Wednesday on the Federal Reserve and its decision on interest rates as corporate earnings continued rolling in.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 5 points at 27,076 in early afternoon trading while the Nasdaq Composite off 10 points to 8,266 and the S&P 500 was off a point to 3,035.

The Federal Open Markets Committee concludes its two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon and investors were expected a 25-basis-point cut in the federal funds rate, which is currently at 1.75% to 2%.

“Chairman [Jerome] Powell and the FOMC will not surprise the markets by denying the rate transparency they have championed,” said Joseph Trevisani, senior analyst at FXStreet, calling such action an “economic insurance policy.”

Justin Tabellione, senior fixed income portfolio manager and head of U.S. fixed income trading at Legal & General Investment Management America, noted a 25-point cut is relatively insignificant.

“The Fed has indicated that the most recent cuts have been insurance cuts due to uncertain geopolitical pressures. This can help soothe investor confidence in the markets when there is uncertainty. The Fed is aware of market risks and is ready and willing to step up if needed. They would rather have a few insurance cuts than fall behind curve,” he said.

President Trump has been pushing for more drastic action, saying the Fed should move to negative interest rates like Japan and a few other countries.

“The Fed doesn’t have a clue! We have unlimited potential, only held back by the Federal Reserve,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.

Wall Street was weighing a $9 billion third-quarter loss reported by General Electric Co. (GE), despite positive movement in the conglomerate’s cash-flow outlook. GE is in the midst of a restructuring, and CEO Larry Culp said he is starting to see improvement. GE shares opened 9% higher.

Investors also were focused on the U.S.-China Trade dispute. There were indications Tuesday an agreement on phase 1 of a resolution might not be ready for Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign when they meet next month at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile.

Global markets were mostly lower.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed off 0.44% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was off 0.57% and the Chinese Shanghai Composite lost 0.5%. Australia’s S&P/ASX dipped 0.83%.

In Europe, the London FTSE closed up 0.29% while the German DAX dipped 0.31% and the French CAC 40 added 0.23%. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.02%.

The British Pound was up 0.05% to $1.2874 while the euro added 0.13% to $1.1125. The U.S. dollar index was off 0.01%.

Oil futures were lower. Crude oil was off 1.62% at $54.63 a barrel while Brent dipped 1.06% to $60.58. Gold and silver futures were higher.