US pre-open: Futures in the red following FOMC meeting
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Thursday 27 Jan 2022
(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Thursday following the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.
As of 1200 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.16%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.14% and 0.09% weaker, respectively.
The Dow closed 129.64 points lower on Wednesday as investors digested news that the Federal Reserve was "of a mind" to raise interest rates as soon as March.
The central bank was still in focus before the start of trading on Thursday after holding its benchmark rate near zero overnight while also strongly indicating that the first hike since late 2018 would come in March.
Fed chairman Jerome Powell shook markets when he said the Federal Reserve had "quite a bit of room" to raise rates before negatively impacting employment. Traders in Fed funds futures market are now pricing in five quarter-percentage-point increases in 2022.
As a result of the news, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note had eased back slightly to 1.836% prior to the open but remained elevated.
AJ Bell's Russ Mould said: "Powell said the central bank would be guided by the data and so growing investor fears that the Fed might be quite aggressive in its efforts to curb inflation remain intact as there was no clarity on exactly what would happen and when."
However, Mould pointed out that uncertainty still remained, saying: "The only thing we can really take from the Fed's latest meeting is that interest rates are almost certainly going to go up in March."
On the macro front, December durable goods orders, an advance reading of fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth and this week's jobless claims data will all be published at 1330 GMT, while December pending home sales figures will follow at 1500 GMT.
In the corporate space, McDonald's, Comcast and Mastercard will report before the open, while Apple, Western Digital and Visa will report earnings after the close.
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN