Wall St set to open subdued ahead of Fed policy meet, Instacart debut

investing.com:

By Ankika Biswas and Shristi Achar A

(Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes were poised for a subdued open on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, with investors awaiting grocery delivery app Instacart's Nasdaq debut to assess a potential recovery in the IPO market.

Instacart parent Maplebear Inc secured a fully diluted valuation of $9.9 billion on Monday after its IPO was priced at $30 per share, the top of its indicated price range.

Chip designer Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) had a stellar market debut last week, raising hopes of a revival in the initial public offering (IPO) market after a near 18-month dry spell.

Arm and Instacart could drive others to go public, though it is still a difficult environment for IPOs with interest rates high and the economy slowing, said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield.

Arm fell 4.3% in premarket trading after announcing its IPO had closed and that underwriters had exercised full over-allotment option of 7 million American Depositary Shares.

The stock's options began trading at a brisk pace on Monday, with many investors positioning for further downside.

Investors are also focused on the two-day Fed meeting that will start later in the day, with the central bank expected to hold benchmark interest rate at the current 5.25%-5.50% range on Wednesday.

Recent economic data has signaled that core inflation is crawling toward the Fed's 2% target, though crude prices gaining for three consecutive weeks to around 10-month highs remains a concern.

«For the most part, people believe that the Fed will be on hold at this meeting and would like to believe that they are on hold at the next meeting, but they're a little bit unsure and that's why you