(Boursier.com) — Wall Street appears to be in decline according to the first indications before the market this Wednesday, the day after a delicate session marked by a fall of 0.95% in the Nasdaq with Tesla and a drop of 1% in the Dow Jones. The S&P 500 dropped another 0.1% in pre-session, the Dow Jones also fell by 0.1% and the Nasdaq by 0.2%.
Yesterday, job openings in the United States for the month of February 2024 stood at 8.756 million according to the JOLTS report, practically in line with the consensus of local economists, compared to a revised level of 8.75 million for month of January.
American industrial orders for the month of February 2024 grew by 1.4% compared to the previous month, compared to +1% consensus and -3.8% a month earlier, in revised reading.
Michelle Bowman, John Williams, Loretta Mester and Mary Daly from the Fed spoke yesterday. Bowman limited his comments to banking regulation, without addressing the topic of monetary policy. Nor did Williams address the crucial issue of rates.
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The Fed is still on track to cut interest rates this year, but new data is needed according to Mester, who votes on the Monetary Policy Committee and runs the Cleveland office. If the economy performs as expected, Mester believes it will be appropriate to begin lowering rates later this year as inflation continues to slow toward 2 percent, and even if the job market and growth economic remains strong. Mester thus mentioned yesterday a potential gradual reduction in rates, while the next data on inflation must reflect the forecasts of an appeasement to begin the cycle of monetary easing. However, the official does not expect to have enough information by the next FOMC meeting to decide, and adds that the risks of premature easing outweigh those of keeping the status quo too long.
Mary Daly, also a FOMC voter and head of the San Francisco chapter, said she saw no urgency in adjusting rates. She observed that as inflation fell, the path was fraught with challenges.
Nothing revolutionary overall emerged from yesterday’s interventions. Economists still believe a June rate cut is more likely than not, although market expectations for a rate cut declined slightly following the release earlier this week of a stronger than expected ISM manufacturing report. foreseen. The Fed’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for April 30 and May 1. At the end of the March meeting, monetary officials left the ‘fed funds’ rate target unchanged in a range of 5.25% to 5.5% and confirmed that they were still planning three rate cuts this year.
Still on the Fed side, Michelle Bowman, Austan Goolsbee, Michael Barr, Adriana Kugler and especially Jerome Powell speak this Wednesday, while Patrick Harker, Thomas Barkin, Goolsbee, Mester and Kathleen O’Neill Paese, Alberto Musalem, Neel Kashkari and Adriana Kugler will speak on Thursday. Susan Collins, Thomas Barkin, Lorie Logan and Michelle Bowman will be there on Friday… Powell is scheduled to speak this evening about the outlook for the economy at the Stanford Business, Government & Society Forum in California.
Among the other major economic meetings of the week on Wall Street, investors will follow this Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. the ADP report on private employment for the month of March (FactSet consensus 150,000 job creations), as well as the index Final composite PMI for March and therefore its services component at 3:45 p.m. (consensus 52.2 for the composite index and 52.1 for services). The ISM for services for the month of March will be announced at 4 p.m. (consensus 52.7).
The monthly report on the employment situation in the United States for the month of March will be known on Friday (consensus 3.9% unemployment, 205,000 non-agricultural job creations and 170,000 in the private sector).
In the news of companies listed on Wall Street, Acuity Brands, Levi Strauss And BlackBerry publish their accounts today. Lamb Weston, RPM International And ConAgra Brands will announce their results tomorrow.