Your move, Chairman Powell
Nasdaq ends green; S&P 500 ekes out gain; Dow ends barely lower
Energy leads S&P 500 gainers; healthcare weakest group
Dollar up; crude up ~2%; bitcoin jumps >4%; gold dips
U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield rises to ~3.65%
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YOUR MOVE, CHAIRMAN POWELL
The S&P 500 index briefly touched an intraday record high on Tuesday and flirted with the possibility of nabbing its first closing high since July in a roller coaster session ahead of the long-awaited Fed decision.
The Nasdaq .IXIC ended modestly higher, with a boost from 6 of the "magnificent seven" - Nvidia NVDA.O sat this one out, dipping 1.1%. The S&P 500 .SPX closed just barely positive, while the Dow .DJI ended nominally lower.
Energy .SPNY, transports .DJT and specifically airlines .SPCOMAIR were clear outperformers on the day.
The session began with a quartet of lukewarm indicators - retail sales, industrial production, homebuilder sentiment and business inventories - all of which pointed to a "soft, but not as soft as expected" economy on the eve of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision, which seems to be all anyone can talk about these days.
A parting glance at CME's FedWatch tool reveals financial markets have priced in a 65% likelihood of a 50 basis point reduction to the Fed funds target rate and a 35% probability of a smaller 25 bp cut.
But tomorrow's market action is unlikely to be moved SOLELY by the size of the Fed's first rate cut in 4-1/2 years.
The tone of the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's presser will also likely move markets.
But the real meat and gravy will be found in the central bank's quarterly Summary of Economic Projections, which will include the updated dot plot, which will provide an inkling regarding the path forward for monetary policy.
The fun begins at 2:00pm Eastern.
Until then, market participants will have to content themselves with housing starts/building permits data as well as an update on mortgage rates and demand, both due before Wednesday's opening bell.
Here's your closing snapshot:
(Stephen Culp)
*****
FOR TUESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
SMALL CAPS MAY NEED VERY HOT OR COLD, NO IN-BETWEEN - CLICK HERE
WHAT HAPPENS TO YIELDS AFTER THE FED? THREE SCENARIOS - CLICK HERE
TUESDAY DATA: LESS UNHAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN - CLICK HERE
S&P 500 FLIRTS WITH RECORD HIGHS - CLICK HERE
ACTIVE INVESTING BACK IN VOGUE AMONG RETIREMENT ADVISERS, SURVEY SHOWS - CLICK HERE
S&P 500 INDEX EYES ITS RECORD HIGHS, GETS SET FOR FED - CLICK HERE -CLICK HERE
YEN RALLY: SLAM DUNK OR WIDOWMAKER? - CLICK HERE
EUROPEAN CYCLICALS READY TO REBOUND - MORGAN STANLEY - CLICK HERE
EUROPEAN BANKS CHEAP ENOUGH TO ABSORB RATE CUTS - UBS - CLICK HERE
CAN TRUMP WEAKEN THE DOLLAR? - CLICK HERE
STOXX ON THE UP - CLICK HERE
EUROPEAN FUTURES EDGE HIGHER ON FED OPTIMISM - CLICK HERE
YEN'S BIG WEEK BEGINS - CLICK HERE
Closing snapshot https://reut.rs/3MVsrNj
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