Morning Brief: Federal Reserve expected to raise rates
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
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WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
All eyes are on the Federal Reserve. At the conclusion of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) meeting, the central bank will decide whether or not to raise short-term interest rates for the fourth and final time in 2018. Market watchers will be paying close attention to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at 2 p.m. ET. While it is expected that the Fed will raise rates, economists have been putting increased emphasis on the Fed’s language coming out of the meeting.
Another slew of housing data will be released. Existing home sales are expected to have fallen 0.4% in November to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.20 million units from the 5.22 million units in October.
Finally, corporate earnings remain light. General Mills (GIS) is scheduled to report before the bell and Rite Aid (RAD) will report after the bell.
TOP NEWS
Bipartisan bid to avoid U.S. shutdown takes shape: With part of the U.S. government about to run out of money, a bipartisan Senate effort was in the works that would delay the conflict over President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall by extending current spending until Feb. 8. [Bloomberg]
Glaxo plans breakup after Pfizer deal: GlaxoSmithKline Plc paved the way for a split into two companies, agreeing to create a consumer-health joint venture with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) that the pharma giants plan to list on the stock market. Glaxo will have a 68% controlling stake in the new entity, with combined sales of $12.7 billion. [Bloomberg]
Economic bellwether FedEx warns of global slowdown: FedEx (FDX) shares fell in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the shipping giant gave weak guidance and warned of continued deceleration. All of this comes as trade tensions between the U.S. and China are running extremely high. [Yahoo Finance]
Wells Fargo's bonuses were 'bad business on steroids': former exec: Two years ago, Wells Fargo’s fake accounts scandal burst into the headlines, and there's been a torrent of bad news ever since. But there's still an area of the bank that deserves more scrutiny — its wealth management business. [Yahoo Finance]
SoftBank telco suffers rare slump on debut after record IPO: SoftBank Corp shares tumbled more than 14% on debut, as investor appetite for Japan's biggest ever IPO was hurt by a recent service outage at the telecoms operator and worries over its exposure to Chinese telecoms gear maker Huawei. [Reuters]
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