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Stock futures muted as investors await Federal Reserve interest rate hike decision – Binance investors withdraw $3 billion in 24 hours – BlackRock warns of recession – Mortgage demand inches higher
As investors await the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike decision on Wednesday in its effort to crush inflation, with investors anticipating a lesser move of a 50 basis-point rate hike after the Fed initiated four consecutive 75 basis point hikes. A basis point is equal to one-hundredth of one percent.
Stock futures were little changed. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 2 points, or less than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 remained roughly flat, CNBC reported.
Oil prices rose Wednesday, with Brent crude futures up 99 cents, or 1.2%, to $81.67 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.06 to $76.45, CNBC reported.
As of 8:59 AM EST, the benchmark U.S. 10-Year Treasury notched up +0.02 for a yield of 3.523%.
Gold prices held above the $1,800 per ounce pivot on Wednesday, with Spot gold little changed at $1,807.24 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures slipped 0.4% to $1,818.80, CNBC reported.
A deluge of negative headlines about the cryptocurrency industry has rattled investors, particularly users of Binance, the world’s largest exchange, CNN reports. On Tuesday, over the course of 24 hours, investors withdrew as much as $3 billion from Binance, according to blockchain analytics firm Nansen. The firm cited the ongoing investigation by the US Justice Department into the exchange as a factor in investors’ nervousness.
BlackRock, Inc., an American multinational investment company, is the world’s largest asset manager, with $10 trillion in assets under its management as of January 2022. A team of its strategists, led by vice chairman Philipp Hildebrand, warned of a recession in a report titled 2023 Global Outlook, Business Insider reported.
“Recession is foretold as central banks race to try to tame inflation,” BlackRock strategists said. “It’s the opposite of past recessions.”
The analyst warned that previous investing approaches won’t work anymore as the global economy has entered a period of elevated volatility. They also said central banks would not be able to support markets this time by loosening policy which makes a recession imminent.
Some small moves in the real estate market as potential buyers start to move on lower mortgage rates. However, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $647,200 or less actually increased slightly last week from 6.41% to 6.42%, CNBC reported. Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 4% for last week, although they were 38% lower than the same week one year ago. Mortgage refinance applications also rose 3% last week from the previous week, however, they were still 85% lower than the same week one year ago.
