- US stocks slipped Wednesday ahead of the Fed's interest rate announcement.
- Wednesday payroll data came in better than expected, and wages rose 7.7%, per ADP.
US stocks slipped Wednesday morning amid strong payroll data ahead of this afternoon's policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.
Companies added 239,000 positions in October, which beat estimates of 195,000, and showed an increase from the previous month. Data also revealed that wages climbed 7.7% from a year ago.
Stronger-than-expected payroll data weighed on stocks, adding pressure to the central bank to maintain a hawkish policy stance.
At 2 p.m. ET, the Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision which is largely expected to be the fourth consecutive 75-basis-point move. A hike of that size would bring the benchmark rate into the 3.75%-4% range, which would be the highest mark since 2008.
Here's where US indexes stood as the market opened 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 3,841.64, down 0.37%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 32,521.17, down 0.4% (132.03 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 10,850.07, down 0.4%
Here's what else is going on this morning:
- Amazon dropped out of the trillion-dollar market cap club for the first time since 2020. That leaves just four stocks with 13-figure valuations.
- Shipping giant Maersk warned "dark clouds" on the horizon threaten to slow down the global economy.
- Wells Fargo said that Americans' pandemic savings will make it harder for the Fed to cool down inflation, as US households hold around $1.2 trillion in excess savings still.
- Market veteran Ed Yardeni said the Fed could signal a 75-basis-point hike in December and then pause to see what happens.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- Oil prices climbed, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.11% to $88.47 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, inched higher by 0.15% to $94.97 a barrel.
- Gold climbed 0.61% to 1,659.70 per ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower by four basis points to 4.048%.
- Bitcoin dropped 0.28 % to $20,396.