continued to cool. Another report highlighted consumer confidence unexpectedly falling.
The encouraging signs indicate the Fed’s rate hikes over the past year have begun to curtail inflation. The central bank is set to unveil a 25 basis point rate increase Wednesday and investors will be keenly parsing Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments for signs the tightening cycle may soon“We’re getting closer to the terminal rate,” Sassan Ghahramani, chief executive of SGH Macro Advisors, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday in the US were mixed. McDonald’s and Caterpillar fell short of profit estimates while General Motors and Exxon Mobil outpaced forecasts with the oil major posting its highest ever full-year profit.