FOMC meeting minutes are not expected to bring high volatility to pre-holiday markets
Wall Street stocks finished mixed overnight, with shares of banks and industrial companies climbing. The S&P 500 index edged 0.15 higher and the Dow Jones gained 0.55%. Bucking the trend, the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.5%, losing ground for the second session in a row after Powell’s renomination. Energy stocks advanced along with oil prices despite Biden announced that he would tap the strategic petroleum reserve.
Asian equities were mostly lower on Wednesday as investors await the minutes from the latest Fed meeting. The upcoming economic reports out of the US make market participants nervous as well. The Nikkei 225 in Japan lost over 1.5% despite the data showing that November’s manufacturing PMI arrived at 54.2 versus 53.2 in the previous month. Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand hiked interest rates to 0.75%, as expected.
European stock markets opened marginally higher today as the overall investor sentiment looks more tepid ahead of major events. US stock index futures look mixed so far in early pre-market trading. FOMC meeting minutes are not expected to bring high volatility to pre-holiday markets on Wall Street while the upcoming economic reports may affect short-term dynamics in stocks and currencies.
The dollar looks steady on Wednesday, with major currency pairs treading water in tight trading ranges ahead of US data. EURUSD stays below the 1.1275 local resistance, struggling to stage a recovery despite oversold conditions. The pair was last seen changing hands around 1.1233, just a few pips above long-term lows seen around 1.1225 on Tuesday. It looks like the prices could challenge the 1.1200 figure if dollar demand picks up in the short term.
