Stocks Hold Steady Ahead Of Fed Meeting, Oil Eases, Bitcoin Rebounds: What's Driving Markets Wednesday?

It’s a quiet session on Wall Street Wednesday as investors remain on the sidelines, awaiting further clues on monetary policy front with the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak shortly after the statement at 2:30 p.m.

While rates are expected to remain unchanged at 5.25%-5.5%, the spotlight will be focused on updates to Fed economic projections, particularly the dot plot, which will unveil the potential trajectory of rate cuts in the future.

Market participants and economists anticipate the Fed will adhere to a strategy of three rate cuts for 2024, but there are concerns of a potential hawkish shift, suggesting fewer projected rate cuts following recent inflation surprises.

At midday trading in New York, both equity indices and Treasury yields showed flat performances. Sectors were mostly unaffected by minor fluctuations, although energy stocks experienced some pullbacks after recent gains due to a 1.9% easing in oil prices.

Bitcoin BTC/USD made an attempt to rebound, rising 3% to $63,600, after dropping as low as $60,000 overnight.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major Equity Indices, ETFs

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was flat at $515.71, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA held steady at $391.07 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ held steady at $438.80, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

Among sectors, the Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF was the top performer for the day, up 0.6%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund XLV were the laggards, both down 0.6%.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

• Intel Corp. INTC fell marginally by 0.3% despite the Biden administration granting the chipmaker up to $8.5 billion to fund chip plants in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon.
• Spotify Technology S.A. SPOT rose nearly 1.5% after Bank of America raised the price target for the streaming music giant from $265 to $315.
• Crocs Inc. CROX rallied 3% after Bank of America raised the price target from $140 to $150.
• Tencent Music Entertainment Group TME rose over 4% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from Neutral to Buy.
• Spirit AeroSystems SPR rocketed by nearly 7% after Boeing Co. BA’s CEO Brian West hinted at the potential recombination of the two entities.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. CMG surged 4% after reports that the restaurant chain’s board had given the green light to a 50-for-1 stock split.
• Equinix Inc. EQIX fell over 4% following the publication of a report by short-seller Hindenburg that alleges accounting manipulations.

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Illustration via Shutterstock and Federal Reserve Flickr.