Equities edge lower
Activity in Asia was muted during this morning’s session, with no new developments on the trade negotiation front to drive trading and a looming Federal Reserve meeting cramping volumes. U.S. futures tended to drift lower during the morning, sliding between 0.07% and 0.08% while the Japan225 index underperformed, with losses of about 0.3%.
Currencies were a bit more mixed, USD/JPY was little changed, AUD/USD rallied 0.06% while the pound underperformed after the latest YouGov poll showed a narrower margin between the Conservatives and Labour for tomorrow’s election. GBP/USD fell 0.14% to 1.3137, the first negative day in three days. Trendline support may be found around the 1.2965 level.
The “un-live” Fed meeting
Today’s calendar is very U.S.-centric, with consumer prices for November the supporting bill ahead of the FOMC meeting. Prices are expected to rise 0.2% m/m, a slower pace than October’s +0.4%. The Fed’s rate meeting is not expected to result in any change in rates, especially following last Friday’s stellar U.S. jobs report for November. Indeed, market pricing implies zero chance of a rate cut at this meeting. If anything, the Fed can more convincingly say that the economy is in a “good place” and that they can afford to sit back and wait and see what happens to the economy.
The Fed is also due to release fresh economic projections which might introduce some excitement to an otherwise mundane statement. It could get interesting if growth forecasts were lowered.