ASX set to rise, Wall Street steady ahead of Fed rates decision

The US stock market remains largely quiet on Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will say in the afternoon about where interest rates may be heading.

The S&P 500 was mostly unchanged and remains near its all-time high, which was set in October. The Dow Jones was up 198 points, or 0.4 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3 per cent lower.

Wall Street is steady ahead of the decision from the Federal Reserve.Credit: AP

The Australian sharemarket is set to advance, with futures at 4.53am AEST pointing to a rise of 46 points, or 0.5 per cent, at the open. The ASX dipped by less than 0.1 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar was trading at US66.46¢ just after 5am AEDT.

Among the market’s big movers was GE Vernova, which flew 13.9 per cent higher after the energy company raised its forecast for revenue by 2028, doubled its dividend and increased its program to buy back its own stock. Palantir Technologies added 2.8 per cent after saying the US Navy will use its artificial-intelligence technology as part of a $US448 million ($674 million) program.

On the losing end of Wall Street was GameStop, which fell 4.8 per cent after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The video-game retailers’ profit topped forecasts, though.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store rose 1.1 per cent after swinging between gains and losses. The restaurant chain caught up in a furor around its logo design reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected but also cut its forecast for revenue this fiscal year, as well as for an underlying measure of earnings.

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In the bond market, Treasury yields eased a bit as the countdown ticks toward the Fed’s announcement at 6am AEDT. The widespread expectation is that it will cut its main interest rate for a third time this year in hopes of bolstering the job market.

That expectation is so strong that US stock prices have already run to the edge of their records because of it. The more important question for Wall Street will be what Fed officials will say about where they see interest rates potentially heading in 2026.

Wall Street has been bracing for Fed officials to imply fewer cuts to rates in 2026 than this year, and potentially fewer than the two that many traders are expecting now, even after they downgraded their forecasts.

While lower interest rates can boost the economy and send prices for investments higher, they can also worsen inflation.

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With inflation remaining stubbornly above the Fed’s 2 per cent target, Fed officials are notably split about whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger threat to the economy.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.16 per cent from 4.18 per cent late on Tuesday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, dipped to 3.59 per cent from 3.61 per cent.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements across Europe and Asia.

AP

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