Medora Lee, USA TODAY
1 min read
U.S. stock futures are higher ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement this afternoon.
The Fed is expected to hold rates steady as it continues to observe the effects of President Donald Trump's tariffs. So far, tariffs haven't boosted inflation much and the job market has slowed, but not cratered, giving the Fed time to take a wait-and-see approach to tariffs and now the Israel-Iran conflict.
Since Israel attacked Iran, oil prices have jumped to a near five-month high. Much of the world's oil comes from the Middle East, and if oil prices continue to climb or stay elevated for a while, that could ignite inflation.
Along with the Fed's policy announcement, central bankers will release their economic forecasts. Economists expect the Fed to raises its inflation outlook, lower its economic growth forecast and keep the unemployment rate fairly low. Investors will also be looking to see how many rate cuts the Fed expects to implement this year and next.
At 6:10 a.m. ET, futures linked to the blue-chip Dow rose 0.21%, while broad S&P 500 futures gained 0.27% and tech-laden Nasdaq futures added 0.35%.
The Senate passed to regulate stablecoins, or a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable price, often by being pegged to a more stable asset like the U.S. dollar.
The Senate's legislation requires dollar-pegged stablecoins to hold dollar-for-dollar reserves in short-term government debt or similar products overseen by state or federal regulators.
The bill now goes to the House, which must decide whether it will take up the bill or negotiate a compromise.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US stock futures higher ahead of Fed interest rate announcement
