Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
NEW YORK: US stocks were little changed in early trading on Wednesday as investors awaited Federal Reserve minutes of its May meeting that could cement the chances of a rate hike next month.
Fed funds futures show that traders now see a 75% chance that the US central bank will raise interest rates in June. The minutes will be released at 2pm ET (1600 GMT).
Investors are also awaiting more details regarding the Fed trimming its US$4.5 trillion balance sheet.
“Our US economists expect the minutes to come down on the hawkish side and continue to expect the Fed to hike in June and September and announce balance sheet reduction in December,” Citi analysts wrote on Wednesday.
While recent economic data has been mixed, with signs of a dip in consumer sentiment and spending, the job market continues to strengthen. That could give the Fed impetus to continue with its path of monetary tightening.
The tightening labor market and historically low mortgage rates have helped the housing market recovery. Amid a raft of housing data due is a report that is expected to show existing home sales fell in April, compared with March.
At 9:40am ET (1340 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 4.52 points, or 0.02%, at 20,942.43, the S&P 500 was up 1.28 points, or 0.05%, at 2,399.7 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 6.17 points, or 0.1%, at 6,144.88.
Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, led by the utilities index’s 0.49% rise.
The laggard again was the consumer staples index, down 0.2% after a weak report from Lowe’s, the No. 2 US home improvement chain.
Lowe’s fell 3.6% to US$79.36 and was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 after it reported a lower-than-expected profit and comparable sales.
Bigger rival Home Depot was off 0.5%, weighing the most on the Dow.
Jewelry retailer Tiffany fell 7.1% to US$86.54 after posting a surprise drop in comparable sales.
Intuit jumped 7.6%, the most on the S&P 500, after raising its revenue forecast.
Nvidia rose 2.3% to US$140.25 on a report that SoftBank has built a US$4bil stake in the chipmaker.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,464 to 1,037. On the Nasdaq, 1,165 issues rose and 1,046 fell.
The S&P 500 index showed 22 new 52-week highs and eight new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 36 new highs and 21 new lows. - Reuters
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