(RTTNews) – Following the lackluster performance seen on Tuesday, stocks are likely to continue to experience choppy trading early in the session on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.
Traders may continue to stick to the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement later this afternoon.
With the Fed widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points, traders will look to the accompanying statement as well as officials’ latest economic projections for clues about the outlook for rates.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 94 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point and a slim 6 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.
The Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Fed Chair Jerome Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.
However, a slump by shares of Nvidia (NVDA) may weigh on the markets, with the AI darling and market leader tumbling by 1.6 percent in pre-market trading.
Nvidia is under pressure after a report from the Financial Times said China’s internet regulator has banned the country’s biggest technology companies from buying the company’s artificial intelligence chips.
After ending Monday’s session mostly higher, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record intraday highs in early trading but spent the rest of the day lingering near the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the day modestly lower. The Dow dipped 125.55 points or 0.3 percent to 45,757.90, the Nasdaq slipped 14.79 points or 0.1 percent to 22,333.96 and the S&P 500 edged down 8.52 points or 0.1 percent to 6,606.76.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.4 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged by 1.8 percent.
The major European markets are also mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are falling $0.32 to $64.20 a barrel after surging $1.22 to $64.52 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $3,707.20, down $17.90 compared to the previous session’s close of $3,725.10. On Tuesday, gold inched up $6.10.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 146.40 yen compared to the 146.68 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1837 compared to yesterday’s $1.1867.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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