Wall Street falls before Fed report
The S&P 500 briefly hit a record intraday high Wednesday before shedding its gains. Data showing stronger inflation and weaker retail sales hurt investor sentiment one day before the Federal Reserve concludes its highly anticipated policy meeting.
Wholesale prices accelerated in May as retail spending dropped more than expected. Some analysts think the Fed may signal that it has become more vigilant regarding inflation.
Vespula Capital CEO Jeff Tomasulo says traders should not make any moves until they get the results of the Fed’s meeting.
“I think tomorrow is going to be very key and critical. It’s a moment for the market to see how the market reacts. So I won’t do anything until we get the information and data out of the Fed tomorrow.”
The Dow retreated a quarter percent Tuesday while the S&P shed a half percent. The Nasdaq fell seven-tenths percent.
Energy stocks were the day’s best performers as oil prices shot up to multi-year highs. ExxonMobil gained over 3%. Chevron rose 2%.
Shares of Boeing got a modest lift after the U.S. and EU raised the white flag. The two trading partners agreed to suspend their 17-year conflict over aircraft subsidies involving Boeing and its rival, Airbus.
Shares of Lordstown Motors rebounded 11% from its 19% drop on Monday. The startup’s president said the company has what he termed “firm” and “binding” orders for the first two years of production of its electric pickup truck. Lordstown had earlier said it had no binding orders or commitments.
