MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow Aims For 5-day Winning Streak As Investors Brace For Fed Meeting
March 19 2019 - 7:13AM
Dow Jones News
By William Watts, MarketWatch
The U.S. central bank launches its second interest-rate policy
meeting of the year
Stock-index futures pointed to a higher start for Wall Street
Tuesday, with bulls looking to extend a winning streak for the Dow
Jones Industrial Average to five sessions as Federal Reserve policy
makers prepare to convene a two-day policy meeting.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 80 points,
or 0.3%, at 26,045, while S&P 500 futures rose 7.9 points, or
0.3%, to 2,848.50. Nasdaq-100 futures gained 22 points, or 0.3%, to
7,382.75.
What's driving the market?
Investors remained focus on a two-day Federal Reserve meeting
set to get under way later Tuesday. While no change in rates is
expected, investors will be focused on the central bank's policy
statement, remarks by Chairman Jerome Powell at his news
conference, and policy makers' forecasts of future rate moves. Of
particular interest is whether the Fed will announce plans to bring
its balance-sheet runoff effort to an early end.
See:Fed seen revealing 'how and when' it will stop shedding
balance sheet assets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-seen-revealing-how-and-when-it-will-stop-shedding-balance-sheet-assets-2019-03-18)
The Fed is widely expected to maintain the tone it adopted in
January, when it abruptly put its rate-hike plan on pause and took
a wait-and-see approach to future rate moves.
Also read:Here are 3 things to watch when the Fed unveils its
latest dot plot
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-doesnt-want-anyone-paying-attention-to-the-dot-plot-but-here-are-3-things-investors-wont-want-to-miss-2019-03-15)
Investors on Monday appeared to shrug off news reports that a
meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi
Jinping to formally end a U.S.-China trade dispute is unlikely to
occur until June. A meeting had previously been indicated for this
month.
The Dow ended 65.23 points higher at 25,914.10, a gain of 0.3%,
while the S&P advanced 10.46 points, or 0.4%, to 2,832.94 and
the Nadaq Composite gained 25.95 points to 7,714.98, up 0.3%.
After suffering a steep year-end selloff, stocks have rebounded
sharply. The S&P 500 is up nearly 16% from its Christmas Eve
low and now stands 3.3% below its record close of 2,930.75 on Sept.
20.
Read:Why stocks can continue to rally in short term after
investors suffered 'parable of the boiling frog'
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-stocks-can-continue-to-rally-in-short-term-after-investors-suffered-parable-of-the-boiling-frog-2019-03-18)
What are analysts saying?
"The Federal Reserve begin their two day meeting today, and some
dealers are anticipating a neutral update from the U.S. central
bank," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, in a
note. "In recent months, the Fed have rowed back on their hawkish
rhetoric and have moved more towards a middle-of-the- road
position, and an absence of hawkish language is likely to lift
investment sentiment."
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 19, 2019 06:58 ET (10:58 GMT)
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