The market consensus is toward a start in September, which would likely push another interest rate hike to the end of the year despite the Fed’s optimism that stubbornly weak inflation will pick up. “Several” policy makers were in favor of starting the reduction of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet within a “couple of months.” The Federal Reserve plans to reduce their bloated balance sheet but failed to provide a specific timeline to begin the process, the minutes of the June Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed. The choppiness on Wall Street came as many traders remained away from their desks after the markets were closed yesterday. While the Dow edged down 1.10 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,478.17, the Nasdaq climbed 40.80 points or 0.7 percent to 6,150.86 and the S&P 500 rose 3.53 points or 0.2 percent to 2,432.54. Geopolitical concerns may also weigh on the markets, although traders may be somewhat reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.įollowing the fourth of July holiday on Tuesday, stocks turned in a lackluster performance during trading on Wednesday. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Thursday on the heels of the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of June.
