December S&P 500 futures (ESZ23) are up +0.50%, and December Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures (NQZ23) are up +0.70% this morning as market participants weighed the possible peak of the Federal Reserve’s historic tightening campaign and looked ahead to an earnings report from Apple.
As widely expected, the Federal Reserve kept its policy rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.50% for the second consecutive meeting and the third time this year on Wednesday. The committee said in a post-meeting statement that “tighter financial and credit conditions for households and businesses are likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation.” In his post-monetary policy meeting press conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that officials are “proceeding carefully,” without ruling out the possibility of another rate hike, and he emphasized that the Fed is not currently discussing rate cuts. “We’re not talking about rate cuts. We’re still very focused on the first question, which is, ‘Have we achieved a stance of monetary policy that’s sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2% over time, sustainably?’ That is the question we’re focusing on,” Powell said.
