Australian share futures were modestly higher with US stocks mostly flat near midday as the Federal Reserve’s policy statement and updated interest rate projections are awaited. They are set to be released at 5am AEDT.Powell is widely expected to reiterate that policymakers are keen to see more signs that inflation is cooling toward the Fed’s 2 per cent target before they pivot to rate cuts. He also is expected to say that policymakers expect a pivot at some point in 2024.
For local investors, NZ will release its fourth-quarter GDP data at 8.45am and Australia will release February jobs data at 11.30am. The NZ data is expected to confirm that the economy is barely expanding. “In our view, this rotation has been driven by strong incoming US economic data, rising expectations for Chinese stimulus, higher oil prices into elevated geopolitical risks and flat US production, and a growing belief that the Fed will allow the US economy to ‘run hot’ in the months ahead.”and its selling shareholders are guiding that they could price the social media company’s initial public offering at the top of its marketed range or above, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
“But we think he will say the inflation prints represent a setback to the Fed’s efforts to build additional confidence in the sustainability of disinflation, and it will need to check upcoming data carefully to confirm this is not the start of a new adverse trend and inflation is indeed converging durably towards 2 before cutting rates.”: “We expect the unemployment rate to fall back in February, pencilling in 4.0%, and a 50k employment gain in the month.