Jason Meshnick, CMT
3 min read
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Stock Market Today: Stocks Higher; Investors Await the Fed originally appeared on TheStreet.
Stocks moved higher in the first 90 minutes. At last check, the increases were 0.54% to 6,012 for the S&P 500, 0.66% for the Dow 30 to 42,479 and 0.55% for the Nasdaq-100 to 21,849.
Leading the S&P 500 were TKO Group TKO the parent of World Wrestling Entertainment, up 4.7%, Jabil, (JBL) the provider of manufacturing services for electronics and other applications, up 3.7%, and Tapestry, (TPR) the parent of luxury brands including Coach, up 2.8%.
Happy Fed Day!
Will they or won't they? Actually, that's not really the question. The market is pricing in almost a 0% chance that the Federal Reserve moves on interest rates today.
So, any move will be a huge surprise. The real question is what will the Fed say? About future moves, that is.
Look for a statement from the Fed around 2 p.m. U.S. EDT today and a news conference with Chairman Jerome Powell 30 minutes later.
This morning's economic reports include initial jobless claims and housing starts.
Jobless claims dropped to 245,000 for the week of June 14, below expectations of 251,000. While the beat is good, this is near the highest levels of the year and indicates a cooling job market.
(Normally the report comes out on Thursdays, but markets and government agencies will be closed for the Juneteenth holiday.)
Housing starts were also below expectations, which in this case is not good. Starts were 1.26 million units on a seasonally adjust basis. The forecast was 1.36 million.
Housing remains unaffordable for many Americans.
So, how are markets reacting?
Honestly, I think they're paying more attention to the Middle East and waiting for the Fed.
Speaking of the Middle East, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that he will not surrender to Israel. So, investors should not expect a quick end to this conflict.
Futures are modestly higher this morning. S&P 500 futures are up 0.12%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is 0.2% higher.
Bonds are rallying, too, although well off their highs of the day. The U.S. 10-year treasury note is up 0.04% and is priced to yield 4.38%.
