© Reuters.
Investing.com — Stocks sold off on Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, and hoped for direction on where interest rates are headed.
The Fed is largely expected to hold rates steady when it announces its decision tomorrow. Fed officials have said in recent weeks there is time to study how well their actions to date have pushed inflation back toward their 2% target rate. Though rates are still above that, there have been signs that inflationary pressures have cooled since last year amid rate hikes that have taken the benchmark from near zero to over 5% in about a year and a half.
While many traders believe the Fed will be done with rate hikes this year, a group still believes another rate increase is possible in November, or perhaps December.
Investors will be listening carefully to what Chair Jerome Powell says at his press conference Wednesday afternoon for any additional hints in this regard. And they will be closely scrutinizing the Fed’s latest estimates for the economy, including year-end projections for inflation, unemployment, and gross domestic product.
Here are three things that could affect markets tomorrow:
1. Fed decision
The Fed’s on interest rates, along with its economic projections, are due out at 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT). Then, Powell’s will be live streamed starting at 14:30 ET.
2. FedEx earnings
Logistics giant FedEx Corporation (NYSE:) is due to report earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday. Analysts expect earnings per share of $3.70 on revenue of $21.7 billion.
3. General Mills earnings
Packaged food maker General Mills Inc (NYSE:) is expected to report earnings per share of $1.08 on revenue of $4.9 billion.
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