All eyes are on the Fed today
Futures on Wall Street are inching higher Wednesday, as traders wait for the Federal Reserve to reveal its last interest rate decision of the year. Investors expect the central bank to keep its benchmark overnight borrowing rate steady, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell's commentary afterwards will provide additional clues regarding when interest rate cuts can be expected.
Meanwhile, more inflation data was released this morning. Specifically, the producer price index (PPI) stayed still in November, another sign that inflation is easing in the U.S.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- How options traders can play the "fear gauge" dip.
- Analyst predicts upside for online real estate stock.
- Plus, Tesla's recall; RBLX's bull note; and Pfizer's revenue guidance.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1 million call contracts and 616,770 put contracts traded Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.58, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.68.
- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is 0.9% lower premarket, adding to a 5.3% quarter-to-date deficit after an announcement by U.S. safety regulators. Specifically, the electric vehicle (EV) giant will recall more than 2 million EVs in order to work out kinks in its driver assistance system, with software updates due for the company's models Y, S, 3, and X between Oct. 5 and Dec. 7, 2023.
- Wells Fargo initiated bullish coverage on Roblox Corp (NYSE:RBLX) with an "overweight" rating. The Wall Street analyst believes the potential revenue from advertising on the video game company's platform is underappreciated. Up 1.7% in electronic trading, RBLX is nearly 50% higher in 2023.
- Following its major acquisition news, shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) are 6.3% lower before the open to add to a 44.2% year-to-date deficit. This comes after the biopharmaceutical company issued softer-than-expected revenue guidance for the full year, seeing an impact on earnings from said acquisition.
- The Fed's final interest rate decision and more inflation data is due out this week.
China Promises to Strengthen Region's Demand
Asian markets settled mostly lower on Wednesday, despite China’s promises to strengthen demand in the region, address its real estate crisis, and focus on strategic sectors in 2024. China’s Shanghai Composited paced the laggards with a 1.2% loss, while South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1% and 0.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, The Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) Tankan quarterly survey showed better-than-expected improvement in business confidence among big manufacturers in the fourth quarter. In response, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.3%.
European markets are higher, as investors hold out for the stateside interest rate decision and brush off a shrinking U.K. economy, which contracted a worse-than-expected 0.3% in October. London’s FTSE 100 is still up 0.3%, however, while France’s CAC 40 is 0.2% higher, and the German DAX is slightly above breakeven with a 0.08% gain.