Powell says tariff-driven inflation is a big problem for the Fed.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the US Central Bank is still struggling to determine the impact of tariffs on consumer prices.
Bloomberg – Politics
US stock futures have little change ahead of the outcome of the afternoon Federal Reserve policy meeting.
While little has predicted that the Fed will lower the rate, economists predict that the decision will not be fully booked for the first time since 1993.
Investors will look for clues when the Fed may be ready to lower prices in a press conference at the Federal Reserve Policy Statement and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting. According to market traders, the CME FedWatch tool, which measures the likelihood that the Fed will change its federal target rate at upcoming meetings, shows a 63.4% chance of interest rate reductions in September. In October, we hold a 49.2% chance.
Lower fees make borrowing cheaper.
“The question is whether they will communicate greater openness to the reduction rate at their September meeting,” said Bill Nelson, chief economist at the Institute of Banking Policy. “I don’t think it’s my guess for a number of reasons. The FOMC statement and chairman Powell’s press conference aim to hit the same neutral tone as June.”
At 6:05am ET, futures tied to the Blue Chip Dow slipped -0.02%, while the Broad S&P 500 futures added 0.05%, while the Tech-heavy Nasdaq futures rose 0.11%.
Continuous Trade Contract Consultations
US and Chinese officials continue to negotiate trade in Stockholm, Sweden, as an agreement to extend the tariff ceasefire, which expires on August 12th. Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang told reporters that both sides agreed to maintain the ceasefire, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters it was flying over the guns. The extension would have to be approved by President Donald Trump, he said.
Meanwhile, South Korean officials met with Washington Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick before the August 1 deadline to prevent increased tariffs on South Korea’s exports.
Revenue
Investors will also consider key revenue reports for directions. This week, seven more so-called epic Mega Cup technology stocks will be reported. It includes the Facebook-Parent Meta platform and software giant Microsoft after the market shuts down. Investors will want to see if artificial intelligence spending remains intact. AI spending has fueled rally this year with many tech stocks.
Other companies reporting after completion include Robinhood, Qualcomm, ARM Holdings, Lam Research, Carvana and Allstate.
Before the market opens, investors will see the results of Hershey, Altria, Garmin, Kraftheinz, Humana and Wingstop.
Medora Lee is a money, market and personal finance reporter for USA Today. mjlee@usatoday.com and Subscribe to our free daily money newsletter Personal finance tips and business news every Monday to Friday.
