US Stock markets: Wall Street drifts higher ahead of Fed
NEW YORK: Stocks are drifting higher in early trading ahead of what Wall
The Dow was barely lower and the Nasdaq was up 0.2%. The spotlight is squarely on the Federal Reserve, which will announce its latest move to combat high inflation in the afternoon. The Fed is expected to raise its overnight rate again, to the highest level since 2007. More important is what clues the Fed gives about upcoming moves.
Wall Street pointed slightly higher Wednesday as markets digest more corporate earnings while waiting for a decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrials ticked up 0.1% and the S&P 500 gained 0.3% before the bell. Shares in Europe rose while markets in Japan and China were closed Wednesday for holidays.
As worries over struggling banks and a slowing economy pile up, a political stalemate has left the U.S. edging ever closer to what would be a catastrophic default on government debt.
President Joe Biden invited the top four congressional leaders to face-to-face talks at the White House next week to try to resolve the impasse over the debt.
The Federal Reserve was expected to wrap up a two-day policy meeting later in the day by raising its key rate by a quarter percentage point to 5%-5.25% as it tries to extinguish the worst inflation in four decades.
In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX climbed 0.9%, the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.7% and Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.3%.
