Last Updated: 4:05 PM EST
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Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the green. The Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 0.53%, 0.42%, and 0.14%, respectively. This comes after the Federal Reserve released its meeting minutes from the previous month. Indeed, during the July 30-31 meeting, some members thought there was a good reason to lower interest rates but decided to keep rates unchanged at 5.25%-5.50%.
Still, there were a few members who pointed out that the recent progress on falling inflation and a rise in unemployment could have supported a small rate cut. However, they also agreed it was better to wait until they were more confident that inflation was steadily moving toward the Fed’s 2% target before making any cuts.
In other news, the Labor Department reported its revised nonfarm payroll numbers, which indicated that the U.S. economy created 30% fewer jobs than initially estimated. This equates to a decrease of 818,000 jobs in the 12-month lookback period from March 2024. This is likely to further strengthen the case to lower interest rates in September.
First Published: 5:04 AM EST
U.S. futures were flat on Wednesday morning as investors awaited the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting minutes. Markets are eager to hear the Fed’s views on the economy’s health and any clues regarding the interest rate cut trajectory. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were up by about 0.01%, 0.03%, and 0.09%, respectively, at 4:15 a.m. EST, August 21.
Yesterday’s regular trading session remained dull, with all the major indices breaking their winning streaks. The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq Composite lost 0.2%, 0.15%, and 0.3%, respectively.
In major stock market news, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) gained 7.2% on stronger-than-expected results for the fiscal fourth quarter. Further, Netflix (NFLX) shares hit an all-time high yesterday after the streaming giant reported an impressive 150% jump in advertising sales. However, Boeing’s (BA) announcement of grounding its 777X test fleet disappointed investors, leading to a 4.2% share price decline.
Moving to important earnings releases due today, companies such as Zoom (ZM), Snowflake (SNOW), Target (TGT), Macy’s (M), TJX Companies (TJX), Analog Devices (ADI), and Agilent (A) will release their quarterly numbers.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield remained unchanged, floating near 3.818% at the time of writing. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures are trending lower, hovering near $72.97 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European indices opened marginally higher on Wednesday morning as investors looked forward to the release of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting minutes.
Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Lower on Wednesday
Asia-Pacific indices were in the red today after a weak trading session yesterday for major U.S. indices. Also, investor sentiment was hurt after Japan reported a wider trade deficit for July.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 0.77%. Further, China’s Shenzhen Component and Shanghai Composite indices were down by 0.35% and 0.28%, respectively. Also, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices closed lower by 0.29% and 0.21%, respectively.
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