Fed decision ahead, Instacart's IPO - what's moving markets

investing.com:

Investing.com -- The U.S. Federal Reserve is tipped to keep interest rates steady on Wednesday, placing added emphasis on new economic projections from the central bank's officials that could hint at the path ahead for monetary policy this year. Elsewhere, Instacart (NASDAQ:CART) shares dip in U.S. premarket trading, paring back some gains made in their debut on Tuesday, as hopes grow for a revival in initial public offerings.

1. Fed set to leave rates unchanged

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates steady later today, as investors attempt to gauge how the U.S. central bank will approach monetary policy throughout the rest of the year.

According to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool, there is a 98% chance that the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee will keep borrowing costs unchanged at a range of 5.25% to 5.50%.

With markets mostly pricing in a rate hold, one of the major questions will center around whether the Fed feels it may need to resume a long-standing policy tightening campaign later on in 2023 to help tamp down persistent inflation.

Data last week presented a somewhat mixed picture for price gains in the world's largest economy. Annual headline inflation climbed by more than anticipated in August because of a surge in fuel costs, although the underlying reading slowed to its lowest level in almost two years.

Attention will likely focus in on a fresh batch of officials' individual economic and policy projections, also known as the «dot plot,» which could point to broad support for one additional quarter-point rate increase this year. However, this hike remains far from a certainty: while the Fed may be willing to maintain rates at a higher level for longer, it does not want