Markets Struggle Before Fed Rate Word
March 20,2019 11:58 AM EST
Stocks slipped on Wednesday as a decline in FedEx tempered sentiment while investors braced themselves for a key Federal Reserve announcement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumbered 106.34 points midday to 25,781.04, as Goldman Sachs lagged.
The S&P 500 sagged 10.95 points to 2,821.62, as the health-care and materials sectors lurched lower.
The NASDAQ Composite slumped 23.67 points to 7,700.28
FedEx shares fell more than 5% after CFO Alan Graf warned in the company''s quarterly report that "slowing international macroeconomic conditions and weaker global trade growth trends continue, as seen in the year-over-year decline in our FedEx Express international revenue."
That warning was followed by UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti saying this is one of the worst first-quarter environments ever as investment banking revenue falls about a third from the year-earlier period. Meanwhile, German auto maker BMW said its earnings could fall significantly in 2019 and added it will cut $13.6 billion in costs.
These negative comments come as the U.S. central bank is widely expected to keep rates steady later in the session, with investors monitoring a decision on the Fed''s rate projections for the next few years.
Stocks are up more than 12% this year in large part because the Fed said in January it would be "patient" in raising rates this year. However, Wall Street could be setting itself up for a letdown if the Fed does not indicate there will be no rate hikes this year as investors have priced in extremely favorable monetary policy conditions.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained ground, lowering yields to 2.59% from Tuesday''s 2.61%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices regained 96 cents to $59.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gave back $3.40 to $1,303.10 U.S. an ounce.
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