Stocks started Tuesday in negative territory but were trading higher by mid-afternoon. Today's focus was on a steady stream of economic data – including a bigger-than-expected rise in wage growth – which hit as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting. Corporate earnings reports also drew their fair share of headlines, particularly a dismal outlook from construction giant Caterpillar (CAT).
One of the more notable economic reports released today was the employment cost index (ECI) – a measure of inflation that tracks wage growth – which rose by a higher-than-expected 1.1% from Q2 to Q3. This was larger than the 1% rise seen in Q2, and was the ninth straight quarterly increase in the metric. Year-over-year, the ECI was up 4.3%.
