U.S. stock futures are lower in pre-market trading for Thursday, March 22.The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 6,801.25 with a loss of -1.20% percent or -82.75 point. The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,698.75 with a loss of -0.72% percent or -19.50 point.The Dow Futures are trading at 24,546.00 with a loss of -0.73% percent or -181.00 point.
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 21,591.99 for up with +0.99% percent or +211.02 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 31,215.74 with a loss of -0.63% percent or -198.78 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,263.48 with a loss of -0.53% percent or -17.47 point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 33,124.73 with a loss of -0.03% percent or -11.45 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,002.95 with a loss of -0.51% percent or -36.02 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 12,189.65 with a loss of -0.97% percent or -0.97% point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,193.00 with a loss of -0.89% percent or -46.74 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 372.32 with a loss of -0.73% percent or -2.74 point.
Thursday’s Factors and Events
The economic outlook has strengthened in recent months,” the Fed said in a statement at the end of a two-day meeting in which it lifted its benchmark overnight lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent.
Powell, who took over from former Fed chief Janet Yellen in early February, said the central bank was staying on a path of gradual rate increases but needed to be on guard against inflation.
“We are trying to take the middle ground here,” Powell said in a press conference after the end of the policy meeting, adding that there were no signs the economy was on the cusp of accelerating inflation.
The rate hike was widely expected. All 104 economists polled by Reuters from March 5-13 said the Fed would increase borrowing costs this week.
U.S. stocks rose after the policy statement before paring gains to close lower. U.S. Treasury yields fell and then recovered. The dollar recorded its steepest one-day loss in nearly two months against a basket of currencies.
Wednesday’s Activity
U.S. market were lower on Wednesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,682.31 with a loss of -0.18% percent or -44.96 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,711.93 with a loss of -0.18% percent or -5.01 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,345.28 with a loss of -0.26% percent or -19.02 point.
Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,579.30 for up with +0.57%percent or +8.90 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 964.15 for up with +0.49% percent or+ 4.72 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,924.69 for up with +0.31% percent or +5.95 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,189.53 with a loss of -0.24% percent or -2.90 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,608.57 with a loss of -0.09% percent or -1.41 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,504.48 with a loss of -0.14% percent or -2.14 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 24,682.31 with a loss of -0.18% percent or -44.96 point.