NEW YORK, Dec 11 — Wall Street was mixed but mostly higher early today, awaiting more clarity on a hoped-for US-China trade agreement and unmoved by an uptick in consumer inflation.
The Federal Reserve announcement due later today is not causing many ripples, an unusual situation given the hyper-focus normally aimed at the US central bank.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was essentially flat at 27,873.83.
The broad-based S&P 500 was up 0.2 per cent to 3,138.18, as was the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index which edged up to 8,632.84.
The Dow was soured by two key components: oil major Chevron and hardware big box chain Home Depot, which both announced bad news.
Chevron lost 0.9 per cent in early trading after announcing a write down of the value of some of its assets by US$10 billion.
And Home Depot fell 1.7 per cent after releasing a disappointing 2020 outlook.
Even after news that consumer prices rose 0.3 per cent in November, the Fed is expected to leave the benchmark interest rate on hold for now, but Fed chief Jerome Powell’s press conference could still move markets.
Analyst Patrick O’Hare wrote at Briefing.com, that after three rate cuts this year, this decision “has the makings of being a non-event, which is an event in and of itself because it seems every... meeting to this point, or certainly this year, has been ‘an event.’”
With news on the status of trade talks with Beijing drip-dripping out, investors are holding their breath lest a bombshell development drop.
A report that negotiations will continue past December 15, when a new round of US tariffs are set to hit Chinese goods, was the latest positive sign, but President Donald Trump could reverse course at any point, as he has done before. — AFP
