Morning Briefing: Markets higher ahead of the Fed

Markets higher ahead of the Fed

The Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision today and expectation is that it will increase the rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%.

The markets are broadly higher ahead of the release while other regional matters are also in focus along with a new decline for oil prices.

Asian markets closed mixed with Chinese retail and industrial production data adding to sentiment, although neither was remarkable. Japan’s industrial production index was flat.

European markets are trending higher with the Fed strongly in focus and tech stocks continue to recover. Industrial output for the Eurozone, and for Germany, was flat.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open higher. The Fed’s interest rate decision, CPI and retail data, and US oil and gasoline inventory data is all due. Canadian home price data is due.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	21,328.47 (+0.44 per cent)	+2.07 per cent	+20.67 per cent
TSX Composite	15,379.75 (-0.03 per cent)	-1.02 per cent	+10.77 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,533.37 (+0.44 per cent)	+1.32 per cent	+27.18 per cent
German DAX	12,843.58 (+0.62 per cent)	+0.57 per cent	+34.92 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,535.30 (+1.31 per cent)	+4.43 per cent	+14.93 per cent
Japan Nikkei	19,883.52 (-0.08 per cent)	+0.00 per cent	+25.38 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
48.37 (-0.72 per cent)	46.02 (-0.95 per cent)	1270.10 (+0.12 per cent)	U$0.7578
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7586

Oil slips 1 per cent as output rises

Rising US and OPEC oil output is pressuring prices again Wednesday. US crude dropped almost 1 per cent overnight and one analyst is warning that, without a deeper cut in production, there could be a $30 barrel on the horizon.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Fereidun Fesharaki, founder and chairman of consulting group FGE, said that the demand is robust but the slump in prices could come next year if countries such as Nigeria and Libya don’t cut output.