Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Little Changed After S&P 500, Nasdaq End at Records; Gold Pulls Back; Delta Shares Pop After Strong Results

Fed Officials Are Willing To Cut Rates, But Inflation Could Derail Plans

2 minutes ago

Officials at the Federal Reserve cut the central bank’s influential interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point last month despite inflation remaining near the top of their list of worries, according to minutes released by the Federal Open Market Committee Wednesday.

The minutes detailed the discussions that led the Fed to cut interest rates for the first time this year. Central bankers face a dilemma as they strive to fulfill their dual mandate of maintaining low inflation and high employment. Inflation remains above the Fed’s target of a 2% annual rate, while job growth has slowed to a crawl.

Fed policymakers have been wrestling with their options: cut the federal funds rate to boost job creation, or keep it higher for longer to wrestle down inflation. The Fed’s key interest rate influences the economy because it dictates borrowing costs on all kinds of short-term loans.

While markets widely expect the Fed to make two more cuts at its remaining meetings this year, Fed officials are keeping a close eye on inflation, suggesting higher-than-expected price increases in the coming months could derail those expectations.

“Two more rate cuts aren’t a done deal because policymakers aren’t letting go of their inflation mandate,” David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation, wrote in a commentary.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Stock Futures Little Changed After S&P 500, Nasdaq End at Records

23 minutes ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures were near flat.

Nasdaq 100 futures also were little changed.