© Reuters
biedexmarkets.com– U.S. stocks struggled for direction Wednesday, with investors wary of taking significant positions ahead of the all-important Federal Reserve decision and press conference from Chairman Jerome Powell slated for later in the day.
By 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT), the rose 0.2%, or 60 points, the rose 0.1% while the was flat.
Fed meeting, Powell address in focus
As the Fed is widely expected to , the summary of economic projections that provide clues on the outlook for the rate-cut path and the economy will garner the bulk of the investor attention.
In the post-meeting from Chair Jerome Powell, remarks on whether the recent bout of hotter inflation will force Fed to delay rate cuts until after the summer will also be in focus.
“If the Fed sounds even hawkish today, it could place it as ‘the odd man out,” Macquarie said in a note, referring to expectations that other major central banks including the Bank of England, European Central Bank, and the Bank of Canada are set to turn to turn dovish.
Intel gets nearly $20B in government grants to boost chip output; Tesla price hikes in focus
In corporate news, Intel (NASDAQ:) stock rose 1.6% after the Biden administration announced it is awarding the company nearly $20 billion in grants and loans, as it seeks to boost the country’s chip output.
Tesla (NASDAQ:) stock rose nearly 1% after the EV manufacturer confirmed it will raise the price of China-produced Model Y vehicles from April 1. The news followed recent announcement of price hikes in Europe in the U.S. and marked a reversal in strategy from the series of cuts that Tesla delivered throughout 2023.
General Mills in earnings delight; Chipotle splits stock, Boeing warns of cash burn
General Mills (NYSE:) stock rose 1% after the processed foods giant posted a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly sales, backed by higher prices for its breakfast cereals, snack bars and pet food products that helped cushion a blow from slowing demand.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:) stock rose over 3% after the burrito chain’s board approved a 50-for-1 split of its common stock, its first ever stock split, opening up the opportunity for more potential investors to buy into the company.
On the flip side, Boeing (NYSE:) stock rose more than 2% despite the aircraft manufacturer’s CFO Brian West indicating that cash flow will be worse than the company had expected even back in January as the troubled plane maker focuses on quality after a spate of incidents.
Signet Jewelers (NYSE:) stock slumped 10% after the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry reported a sharp drop in sales in the important fourth quarter, particularly in North America.
Crypto stocks mixed as bounces stalls
Crypto-related stocks were mixed as miners including Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:), and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:) advanced, while MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:) was flat as bitcoin bounced from near $60,000 cooled somewhat.
Riot Platforms gained more than 7% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral on optimism about the crypto miner’s ability to scale operations.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
