U.S. Stocks Move To The Downside Ahead Of Fed Announcement

Stocks have moved mostly lower during trading on Wednesday, extending the pullback seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages have all moved to the downside, although selling pressure has remained somewhat subdued.

In recent trading, the major averages have climbed off their lows of the session but remain in the red. The Dow is down 83.70 points or 0.3 percent at 32,569.50, the Nasdaq is down 58.70 points or 0.5 percent at 10,832.14 and the S&P 500 is down 16.33 points or 0.4 percent at 3,839.77.

Uncertainty ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement is likely contributing to the weakness on Wall Street.

Trading activity remains somewhat subdued, however, as traders await the Fed’s decision relatively late in the trading day.

With the Fed widely expected to raise interest by another 75 basis points, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for future rate hikes.

In U.S. economic news, private sector employment in the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of October, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP.

ADP said private sector employment jumped by 239,000 jobs in October after climbing by a downwardly revised 192,000 jobs in September.

Economists had expected private sector employment to advance by 195,000 jobs compared to the addition of 208,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Steel stocks have shown a substantial move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 2.8 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.

Significant weakness is also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The weakness among gold stocks comes despite a modest increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery inching up $2.30 to $1,652 an ounce.

Oil, transportation and commercial real estate stocks are also seeing notable weakness, while computer hardware and semiconductor stocks have moved to the upside.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.7 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are seeing modest strength as traders look ahead to the Fed announcement. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 2.2 basis points at 4.030 percent.

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