Stock market today: Wall Street points lower ahead of closely watched consumer inflation data
Wall Street lurched toward minor losses before the opening bell Wednesday as markets awaited the last batch of inflation data before the Federal Reserve meets next week, when most expect U.S. central bank officials to approve an interest rate cut
Wall Street lurched toward minor losses before the opening bell Wednesday as markets awaited the last batch of inflation data before the Federal Reserve meets next week, when most expect U.S. central bank officials to approve an interest rate cut.
Futures for the S&P 500 ticked down about 0.1% in premarket, while futures for the Dow Jones industrials lost 0.3%.
The Fed is turning its focus away from stifling high inflation and toward protecting the labor market and broader economy. It's unclear how much the Fed will cut the federal funds rate, which has been sitting at a two-decade high.
Reports coming this week on U.S. inflation could influence the size of the Fed’s expected rate cut. A worst case scenario for the Fed would be if inflation were to reaccelerate just as the job market is weakening, because attending to both of those problems would require conflicting moves.
Economists expect the report on inflation to show prices for U.S. consumers were 2.6% higher in August than a year earlier. That would be a slowdown from July’s inflation rate of 2.9%.
On Thursday, the government shares its most recent data on inflation at the wholesale level, before it reaches consumers.
Investors were also watching for any market impact from Tuesday night's debate between the U.S. presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Trump attacked Harris for the inflation seen under the Biden-Harris administration, a major liability for the vice
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