U.S. stock index futures rose slightly before the trading session on Wednesday. The market was waiting for today's Federal Reserve storm. The market is generally expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points for the third consecutive time, and forward guidance on the "dot map" is the top priority.
As of press time, Dow futures rose 0.4%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures rose 0.2%.
UK FTSE 100 index rose 0.9%, Germany's DAX index rose 0.1%, and France's CAC-40 index rose 0.1%.
Market trading was light on Wednesday, and most investors left the market and waited for the Fed to raise interest rates again. The inflow of safe-haven funds has driven sharp rises in U.S. Treasury bonds and the dollar. The US dollar hit a 20-year high.
The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again later today, and central banks will make a number of important decisions this week, with key indicators for measuring market volatility approaching weekly highs.
"Obviously, we are facing a situation where investors are flocking to safe havens and we also expect the Fed to raise interest rates again today," said Danni Hewson, a financial analyst at AJ Bell. "The dollar therefore looks quite firm."
The Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision at 02:00 am on Thursday, Beijing time. Half an hour later, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell will hold a press conference.
The money market has completely digested the price of 75 basis points for the third consecutive rate hike, pushing interest rates to its highest level since 2008. The stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data released last week crushed speculation that cost pressure has peaked.
Most analysts believe that the market generally expects the Fed to raise interest rates by 75 basis points for the third consecutive time. Only two analysts predict a 100 basis point hike.
The Swedish central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates by a full percentage point yesterday and warned that further interest rates would be raised in the next six months.
Nordic Bank expects the Federal Reserve to raise the federal funds target range by 75 basis points and will target a rate hike. The bank expects federal funds rate to rise above neutral by early next year, entering a restrictive range and staying at this level until inflation issues are resolved. Our view is that interest rates will take a long time to stay high, and the possibility of the Fed turning to a rate cut in the short term is very small.
National Bank of Canada Wealth Management expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by 75 basis points for the third consecutive time. With inflation still severe and labor markets still tight, the Fed may signal that further rate hikes are necessary. The economic forecast summary and dot chart will give us a new understanding of the FOMC's expected interest rate path. The median expected federal funds rate will likely rise by the end of 2022, close to the 4%. Consistent with recent Fed remarks, it is unlikely that the Fed will signal a rate cut until at least 2024. In terms of economic forecast summary, GDP expectations should be substantially lowered. The subsequent Powell press conference will provide marginal guidance on future interest rate paths.
ANZ expects the Fed to raise interest rates by 75 basis points and reiterate its obvious hawkish guidance. We also expect the Fed's tightening cycle to continue into the first half of 2023 and raise expectations for the final value of the federal funds rate to 5.0% from the previous 4.0%. Given that the Fed claims economic growth needs to continue below the trend level for some time, FOMC's economic forecast should change significantly compared to June. We expect the Federal Reserve's GDP expectations to drop significantly and the unemployment rate will rise. The dot map should be steeper and higher than in June.
Focus stocks
Petroleum stocks generally rose before the market, Cinnabar Energy rose 3.5%, Occupy Oil rose about 2%, and ExxonMobil rose 1.69%.
Micron Technology fell 2% before the market, with pessimistic revenue expectations in the fourth quarter. Institutions say the DRAM market downward cycle has begun.
Vodafone rose about 2% before the market, and the French telecom tycoon has purchased 2.5% of its shares.
, which fell about 24% yesterday, fell 8.7% again before the market. The company announced that it will withdraw the issuance of its preferred secured bonds due to uncertainty in the high-yield bond market.
Western Digital fell 2% before the market, and Deutsche Bank lowered its company's target price and rating.
Dodar rose 1.58% before the market trading, intending to increase investment in Qatar's natural gas project by billions of dollars.
Lockheed Martin rose 2.48% before the market trading, and Switzerland officially purchased 36 F-35A fighter jets.
Stich Fix fell nearly 9% before the market, and its profit turned into a loss in the fourth quarter, and its sales will continue to decline in the future.
DWAC rose 3% before the market opened, renegotiating a $1 billion financing agreement with acquisition supporters.
ContextLogic fell more than 2% before the market, and shareholders sold 1.2922 million shares of the company.
Yiheng Health fell by more than 22% before the market, and is expected to delist on September 23, 2022.
