(RTTNews.com) – Wall Street stocks may get off to a racing start on Wednesday ahead of the Fed announcement. The FOMC is expected to raise rates by 25 basis points.
Strong employment data and rising inflation support a rate hike and the consensus is for an increase of 0.875 percent. At around 2.30 pm ET Fed Chair Janet Yellen will announce the decision. Asian shares closed mostly in the red, while European shares are trading mixed.
As of 7.30 am ET, the Dow futures were climbing 38 points, the S&P 500 futures were up 5.75 points, and the Nasdaq 100 futures were adding 11.50 points.
On the economic front, the Mortgage Bankers’ Association’s Mortgage applications data were released at 7.00 am ET.
U.S. Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index for February will be released at 8.30 am ET. The economists are expecting CPI growth consensus of 0.1 percent, compared to growth of 0.6 percent a month ago. CPI less food and energy is expected to grow 0.2 percent.
The Commerce Department’s retail sales data for February is expected at 8.30 am ET. The forecast is for growth consensus of 0.1 percent, down from 0.4 percent last month.
The New York Federal Reserve Bank’sEmpire State manufacturing survey for March is scheduled to release at 8.30 am ET. The consensus is for 15.4, while in the previous month, it recorded 18.7.
The Commerce Department’s Business Inventories for January will be revealed at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 0.3 percent, while it was 0.4 percent a month ago.
The National Association of Home Builder’s Housing Market Index for March is expected at 10.00 am ET. The economist are looking for consensus of 66, slightly up from 65 last month.
The Energy Information Administration or EIA Petroleum Status Report for the week is expected at 10.30 am ET. In the previous week, the crude oil inventories were 8.2 million barrels. Gasoline inventories declined 6.6 million barrels.
The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC meeting announcement will be 2.00 pm ET. The Federal Fund Rate consensus is 0.875 percent.
In the corporate segment, Audi Group reported pretax profit of 3.05 billion euros for fiscal 2016 compared to 5.28 billion euros last year. Profit after tax decreased to 2.07 billion euros from 4.30 billion euros. Operating profit before special items decreased 5.6% to 4.85 billion euros. Revenue was registered at 59.32 billion euros compared with 58.42 billion euros, a year ago, an increase of 1.5 percent.
Hennes & Mauritz AB reported the first-quarter group sales including VAT of 54.37 billion Swedish kronor, an increase of 7 percent. Sales excluding VAT amounted to 46.99 billion Swedish kronor, an increase of 8 percent. In local currencies, sales including VAT increased by 4 percent.
Europe’s no-frills airline Ryanair Holdings Plc Wednesday announced its entry to Ukrain. The airline said it will operate 4 new Kiev routes to Endhoven, London, Manchester and Stockholm from October.
Syngenta AG reported full-year 2016 net income attributable to shareholders of $ 1.178 billion, compared with $ 1.339 billion in the prior year. On a per share basis, earnings declined to $ 12.79 from $ 14.52 last year. Sales declined to $ 12.790 billion from $ 13.411 billion a year ago.
Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday. China’s Shanghai Composite index ended marginally higher 2.43 points or 0.08 percent at 3,241.76. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 35.10 points or 0.15 percent to 23,792.85.
Japanese shares extended losses from the previous session. The Nikkei average fell 32.12 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 19,577.38 while the broader Topix index closed 0.23 percent lower at 1,571.31.
Australian shares reversed early losses to end a tad higher. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 14.90 points or 0.26 percent to 5,774, while the broader All Ordinaries index closed 15.60 points or 0.27 percent higher at 5,813.70.
European shares are trading mixed. Among the major indexes in the region, the CAC 40 Index of France is down 0.70 percent, the German DAX is climbing 4.87 points or 0.04 percent, the U.K. FTSE 100 Index is advancing 13.24 points or 0.18 percent and the Swiss Market Index is adding 3.34 points or 0.04 percent.
The Euro Stoxx 50 Index, which is a compilation of 50 blue chip stocks across the euro area, is climbing 0.22 percent.
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