Here are the most important news, trends and analysis investors need to start their trading day:
1. Wall Street set to return most of Tuesday’s gains
Traders on the NYSE, June 16, 2022.
Source: NYSE
US stock futures fell on Wednesday, pointing to an opening that would give up most of the previous session’s strong rally ahead of Day One of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s economic testimony on Capitol Hill. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 641 points, or 2.15%, on Tuesday to start the week in short. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 2.45% and 2.51%, respectively. Tuesday’s rally came after the S&P 500 had its worst week since March 2020, the month in which the Covid-19 pandemic was announced.
2. It’s the First Day of Fed Director Powell’s Economic Testimony
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks to reporters after the Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to prevent a spike in inflation, in a press conference. press conference after a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. (FOMC) in Washington, USA, June 15, 2022.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Powell is set to deliver Fed’s twice-yearly monetary policy report to the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. The Fed chief will make prepared remarks and face questions from lawmakers. Inflation soars and whether the central bank is doing enough to stop it will be the main focus of the hearings. In a preview last week, the Fed said that fighting inflation was “unconditional.” The Fed raised interest rates by 75 basis points at its June meeting and forecast a similar increase at its next meeting in July.
3. Biden is expected to call for a moratorium on federal gas taxes
Fuel prices at a Chevron gas station in San Francisco June 9, 2022.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures
Oil prices fell 4% to around $105 a barrel on Wednesday, hours before President Joe Biden’s expected afternoon announcement calls for Temporary suspension Federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents/gallon. However, the gas tax cut faces significant opposition in Congress, including by many Democrats. Gas prices have remained near $5 per gallon nationally, in the midst of the thick of the summer driving season. Biden has pulled multiple levers to try to bring prices down, including a record release of barrels from the US strategic reserve, production waivers, and pressure on OPEC countries and US energy companies to raise prices. Quantity.
4. Rising interest rates boost demand for riskier adjustable-rate mortgages
Traders twirled the bond Wednesday, pushing the price of 10-year Treasuries higher and its yield falling to about 3.2%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. Yields spiked last week to an 11-year high after the Fed’s biggest rate hike since 1994 sparked demand for adjustable-rate mortgages. Those home loans are considered riskier because they typically offer a lower fixed interest rate for 5, 7 or 10 years and then adjust for any current interest rates in the future, possibly. higher. Mortgage application to buy a house up 8% last week, although they are already 10% lower than in the same period last year. Refinancing demand fell 3% last week and was 77% lower than in the same period a year ago.
5. Bitcoin Holds Above Key Level, It Died Below Saturday
Bitcoin on Wednesday hold over $20,000, but it was traded lower. The world’s largest cryptocurrency on Tuesday fought back from Saturday’s plunge below $18,000, falling below the key $20,000 level for the first time since December 2020. At Saturday’s low point, bitcoin is about 74% below its all-time high of more than $68,000 in November, the month of Nasdaq’s last record high. According to price website Coinmarketcap, the overall crypto market cap is around $950 billion, down from a peak of $2.9 trillion in November 2021.
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