Wall Street Stops Bullish, Market Awaits Fed Minutes

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The United States (US) Wall Street stock exchange reversed direction and opened compactly in the red zone in trading Tuesday (21/11/2023), as market players assessed some disappointing retail stock moves and waiting for the release of the minutes of the US Central Bank meeting (The Fed/Federal Reserve) or commonly called FOMC Minutes.

The Dow Jones opened down 0.27% at 35,055.36, while the S&P 500 fell 0.30% at 4,533.80, as did the Nasdaq depreciating 0.48% at 14,216.50.

The minutes of the Fed’s meeting are scheduled for release on Wednesday morning at 02.00 WIB. This announcement will determine the Fed’s monetary policy regarding its stance to reduce inflation to the 2% target by tightening interest rates.

For information, US inflation for the October period was recorded at 3.2%, lower than the consensus estimate of 3.7%. Trading Economics data shows November US inflation remained at 3.2%.

Investors hope to obtain information regarding interest rate decisions from the FOMC Minutes, after the central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate at the level of 5.25%-5.5%.

Investors will also still pay attention to the possibility of changing policy back to hawkish in the future. Analysts expect that the Federal Open Market Committee will remain stable at its next December meeting.

The decline in the three US indices occurred in line with the correction of issuers operating in the retail sector. Lowe’s shares fell 2.3% after lowering its full-year sales forecast.

Best Buy shares fell 4.6%, also corrected, due to lowered full year performance projections and missed revenue.

Shares of clothing retailer American Eagle plunged 16.9% after weaker-than-expected operating income guidance for the full year.

The weakening of US stocks also occurred as the DXY dollar index weakened. This decline is an indication that market players are fleeing funds from the US market due to economic uncertainty.

The US dollar index hit its lowest point since late August.

The index, which measures the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, posted a session low of 103.18. That marked the cheapest level for the index since Aug. 31, when it hit 103,009.

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