Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. New year, new markets
So far the new year hasn’t been kind to the markets. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.18% on Wednesday, the second trading session of 2024, building on its worst daily performance in months. Investors appeared to be selling last year’s tech winners with Apple, Nvidia, Tesla and Meta all seeing losses. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also saw slight declines for the day. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield briefly topped the 4% mark on Wednesday. Follow live market updates.
2. Waiting on economy to evolve
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Dec. 13, 2023.
Liu Jie | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
The Federal Reserve indicated that it’s still not quite ready to cut rates. The Fed seems to think interest rate cuts are likely in 2024, but it’s not sure when that might happen. The Fed on Wednesday released minutes from its latest meeting, when it held the benchmark rate steady in a range between 5.25% and 5.5%. Members at that meeting also indicated that they expect three quarter-percentage-point cuts by the end of 2024, noting that inflation concerns have subsided. But they struck a cautious tone in the minutes, with several members saying rates might need to stay high if the right conditions don’t come to fruition. Wednesday’s release noted an “unusually elevated degree of uncertainty” about the policy path and said future decisions would depend on “how the economy evolves.”
3. Kicking it up a gear
Cadillac vehicles are offered for sale at the Zeigler Cadillac of Lincolnwood dealership on January 31, 2023 in Lincolnwood, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
General Motors just had its best year for vehicle sales since 2019. The automaker reported Wednesday that it sold 2.6 million vehicles in 2023 — good for a 14.1% increase over 2022. That puts the company on track…
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