U.S. stocks were muted ahead of Fed rate decision

  • Investing.com
  • Stock Market News
U.S. stocks were muted ahead of Fed rate decision
Credit: © Reuters.

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were muted as investors await this afternoon’s Federal Reserve announcement on interest rates and its latest economic forecasts.

At 9:53 ET (13:53 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34 points or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and the NASDAQ Composite was flat.

The Fed is trying to balance its fight against inflation with its work to stabilize the banking system, which has been in turmoil since the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank earlier in March and the rescue of Credit Suisse (SIX: CSGN ) last weekend by UBS (SIX: UBSG ). 

Futures traders largely expect the Fed to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point later today. Before the banking troubles, the expectations were for a half-point hike. Rapid interest rate increases over the last year have been blamed for pressuring banks with paper losses on bond holdings.

First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC ) shares fell 3.5% in early trading. Banks led by JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) are exploring ways to inject more money into the bank, which has hired advisors to explore strategic options. 

The Fed’s decision comes out at 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT), and Chair Jerome Powell is holding a press conference at 14:30.

Shares of Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: VORB ) jumped nearly 50% after a Reuters report that the company is close to a $200 million investment from Texas-based venture capital investor Matthew Brown.

GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME ) shares rose 35% after the gaming retailer reported a surprise profit for the fourth quarter.

Oil drifted lower. Crude Oil WTI Futures were down 0.2% to $69.52 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures fell 0.2% to $75.21 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 0.2% to $1,944. 

Add Chart to Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

  • Enrich the conversation
  • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
  • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
  •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
  • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
  • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Drop an image here or Supported formats: *.jpg, *.png, *.gif up to 5mb

Error: File type not supported

Drop an image here or

100
Please try another search
  • prafful jondhale @prafful jondhale
    Gold buy or sell
    Like 3
    • ha PATEL @ha PATEL
      buy
      Like 0

      • Comment Guidelines

      We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

      • Enrich the conversation
      • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
      • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
      •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
      • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
      • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
      • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
      • Only English comments will be allowed.

      Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

      Drop an image here or Supported formats: *.jpg, *.png, *.gif up to 5mb

      Error: File type not supported

      Drop an image here or

      100
      Please try another search
  • sushil garg @sushil garg
    Crude buy or sell
    Like 0
    • Kowsalya Kowsalya @Kowsalya Kowsalya
      It depends upon ur capital holding period. entry and edit,As of now buy on fall, till 2 days
      Like 0

      • Comment Guidelines

      We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

      • Enrich the conversation
      • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
      • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
      •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
      • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
      • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
      • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
      • Only English comments will be allowed.

      Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

      Drop an image here or Supported formats: *.jpg, *.png, *.gif up to 5mb

      Error: File type not supported

      Drop an image here or

      100
      Please try another search

Related Articles