US stocks up as Federal Reserve considers another rate hike
U.S. stocks opened higher Tuesday, a day after a big sell-off and one day ahead of a Federal Reserve announcement about the direction of interest rates.
The Fed’s two-day meeting concludes Wednesday with an announcement about whether the central bank will raise a key interest rate, something that has been expected – and feared by investors -- but which may not happen in the face of a massive equity decline.
President Trump also tweeted Tuesday, urging the Fed to “feel the market” as it mulls an interest rate hike.
Investors will also be watching the language that the Fed uses as it describes its decision, hoping that the bank projects a more dovish posture toward interest rates.
Earnings could influence sentiment: FedEx, Jabil Circuit and Micron deliver quarterly reports in the afternoon.
U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Monday, deepening annual losses, amid continued worries about the impact a trade war with China may have on the U.S. economy. At the lows of the afternoon the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen more than 600 points.
Amid the volatility, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were all sitting in negative territory for 2018 -- the first down year since 2015. The Russell 2000, a basket of smaller U.S. based companies, closed in bear market territory.
The Nasdaq Composite erased its 2018 gains in Monday's sell-off, leaving only the Nasdaq 100 among the closely followed stock averages that remain positive for 2018.
Stocks in China and Hong Kong fell across the board on Tuesday, tracking markets in the U.S., as Chinese investors gauge the impact of a slowdown in global economic growth.
China’s Shanghai Composite closed the session down 0.8 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished the day down 1.1 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei ended the day down 1.8 percent.
In European trading, London’s FTSE traded off 0.4 percent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.4 percent and France’s CAC lost 0.1 percent.
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