Stocks Muted Ahead of Fed

U.S. stock futures are little changed Sunday evening as investors look ahead to the Federal Open Market Committee’s closely watched meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday and its monetary-policy decision on Wednesday.

At 6:14 p.m. ET on Sunday, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 36 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%, and Nasdaq Composite futures ticked up 0.1%.

Crude oil futures (West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. standard) gained 0.3% to $91 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.1% to $94.03 a barrel.

Notable earnings this week include: Stitch Fix on Monday; AutoZone on Tuesday; FedEx, General Mills, and KB Home on Wednesday; and Darden Restaurants and FactSet Research Systems on Thursday.

This week’s notable economic events include: On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index for September. 

On Tuesday, the Census Bureau reports residential construction data for August, and Maplebear, the parent company of online grocery-delivery service Instacart, is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Exchange under the ticker “CART.”

On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee concludes a two-day meeting and announces its monetary-policy decision. Futures markets are overwhelmingly pricing in no change in the fed-funds rate, currently at 5.25% to 5.50%. 

On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reports existing-home sales for August; the Conference Board will release its Leading Economic Index for August; and the Labor Department will report initial claims for unemployment benefits the week ending Sept. 16. Also on Thursday, the Bank of England is expected to raise its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 5.5%.

On Friday, S&P Global will release both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for September, and the Bank of Japan is expected to keep its rate unchanged, at negative 0.1%.

Write to Janet H. Cho at [email protected]

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