U.S. stocks were wobbling ahead of Fed's rate decision as big tech reports
Investing.com — U.S. stocks were wobbling ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision after mixed earnings from Microsoft and Alphabet.
At 9:36 ET (13:36 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 22 points or less than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.4%.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares were falling 3.1% in early trading after beating expectations but reporting slower growth as it ramps up its artificial intelligence capabilities. Google parent Alphabet Inc. Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG) meanwhile was rising 6.5% after beating expectations with a rebound in advertising revenue and cloud services.
The two kicked off earnings reporting season for big tech, with Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) expected to report later today.
Investors have driven tech stocks higher this year on the hope that the Fed was nearing the end of its interest rate increases. The Nasdaq is up 34% for the year, also fueled by the excitement over AI.
The Fed will announce its decision at 14:00 ET today, and Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference after that, which will be live-streamed. Investors will be listening closely to what Powell says about the next few months and the Fed’s thinking heading into the fall.
The Fed has said it will be guided by data, which has shown a cooling in inflation, though the labor market remains tight. While futures traders largely expect a quarter of a percentage point increase today, they are torn on whether and when another rate hike this year could come or whether the Fed will stop after this.
An initial reading on gross domestic product for the second quarter is due out Thursday morning and the latest reading on inflation in the form of the
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