Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Wednesday, July 26:
1. Fed rate statement in focus, dollar edges up
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold monetary policy steady at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
The Fed decision will come at 2 p.m. ET.
The bank’s rate statement will be closely scrutinized for hints on the timing of the next rate hike and details of when and how it will start reducing its $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
The Fed has raised rates twice so far this year, but the sluggish inflation outlook has raised doubts over whether officials will be able to stick to plans for a third increase before the end of the year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 94.03 by 05.52 a.m. ET (09.52 a.m. GMT) after hitting a low of 93.46 on Tuesday, its weakest since June 2016.
2. Another round of U.S. earnings reports ahead
U.S. earnings season continues, with dozens of companies due to report, including Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Boeing (NYSE:BA), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) and Anthem Inc (NYSE:ANTM) all out ahead of the opening bell.
After the close, technology heavyweights Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) release earnings. Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ:GILD) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:VRTX) are also on the docket.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street, with the blue-chip Dow futures indicating a gain of 23 points or around 0.11%. The S&P 500 futures ticked up 2.75 points or about 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed.
3. Oil builds on gains
Oil prices marched higher on Wednesday, extending gains into a third session as traders looked ahead to the weekly inventory report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Prices were boosted by hopes for greater compliance with an OPEC led output cut aimed at rebalancing the oversupplied global market, following a meeting of cartel members earlier this week.
Prices received an additional boost after Saudi Arabia announced it would move beyond existing output curbs and limit its exports to 6.6 million barrels a day in August.
U.S. crude was at $48.27 a barrel, up 38 cents or around 0.79%, while Brent oil tacked on 28 cents to trade at $50.48 a barrel.
4. U.S. political developments in focus
Investors continued to focus on political developments in Washington after the U.S. Senate narrowly agreed to open a debate on a bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act.
But questions remained about whether Republicans would be able to gather enough support for any of the proposed approaches to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Declining expectations that the Trump administration will be able to implement economic policies such as overhauling the tax code and implementing fiscal stimulus along with worries over investigations into contacts with Russia before November's election have fed into recent dollar weakness.
5. UK economy grows 0.3% in second quarter
Britain’s economy grew by 0.3% in the three months to June and expanded by 1.7% on a year-over-year basis the Office for National Statistics reported on Wednesday.
Britain’s service sector drove growth with output rising by 0.5%, but industrial output shrank by 0.4% and construction output contracted by 0.9%.
ONS Head of National Accounts Darren Morgan said the report showed that Britain’s economy has experienced “a notable slowdown in the first half of this year.”
“While services such as retail, and film production and distribution showed some improvement in the second quarter, a weaker performance from construction and manufacturing pulled down overall growth.”