Fed meeting, bank CEOs on the Hill and more: Wednesday's 5 things to know
Traders will also be watching shares of Stitch Fix after the latest quarterly results, plus the existing home sales numbers for August
Potomac Wealth Advisors founder and president Mark Avallone says the market needs clarity from the Fed, earnings reports and inflation.
Here are the key events taking place on Wednesday that could impact trading.
THE FED: The central bank is expected to raise interest rates in the afternoon following the latest policy meeting.
It is expected to sharply raise its key short-term rate — a third straight three-quarter-point hike is likely to be announced – its previous rate hikes are being felt by households across the economy.
The Fed's latest move is expected to raise its benchmark rate to a range of 3% to 3.25%, the highest level in 14 years.
FED LIKELY TO DELIVER MORE ECONOMIC 'PAIN' WITH ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT INTEREST RATE HIKE
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Federal Reserve Building (Photo Credit: Getty Images / iStock / Getty Images)
Its steady rate increases are making it increasingly costly for consumers and businesses to borrow — for homes, autos and other purchases. And more hikes are almost surely coming. Fed officials are expected to signal Wednesday that their benchmark rate could reach as high as 4.5% by early next year.
BIG BANK CEOS TO FACE TOUGH QUESTIONS ON CAPITOL HILL
BANK CEOS: The chief executives of America's largest retail banks are set to appear before Congress this week in two separate hearings, where lawmakers are expected to question the financial titans over lending practices and an array of social issues such as climate change and workers' access to abortion.
JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon, Bank of America's Brian Moynihan, Citi's Jane Fraser, Wells Fargo's Charles Scharf, U.S. Bancorp's Andy Cecere, PNC Financial Services' William Demchak and Truist Financial's William Rogers, Jr. will appear before the House Committee on Financial Services led by Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., on Wednesday. The same witnesses are slated to testify virtually to the Senate Banking Committee led by Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on Thursday.
The Stitch Fix logo on a smartphone arranged in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. (Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
STITCH FIX: Shares fell more than 2% in extended trading after the online personal styling service missed Wall Street revenue and profit estimates.
Fiscal fourth quarter net revenue fell 16% to $481.9 million. Analysts were expecting $489.0 million. Active clients fell 9% to 3,795,000.
The net loss for the three months ended July 30 was $96.3 million compared to a year ago net profit of $21.5 million.
On a per share basis, the net loss was 89 cents, larger than the expected 63 cents.
Net revenue for the current quarter is expected to decline 22% to 20% year over year to $455 million-$465 million.
EXISTING HOME SALES: The National Association of Realtors is expected to say that sales of previously owned homes fell 2.3% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.70 million units. That would be the seventh straight monthly drop, the most consecutive declines since the housing collapse in October 2007.
It would also mark a 27.6% decline from January when sales were humming along at a 6.49 million annual pace.
Storage tanks are seen at Marathon Petroleum's Los Angeles Refinery. (REUTERS/Bing Guan / Reuters Photos)
ENERGY INVENTORIES: The DOE’s Energy Information Administration will release its inventory report for last week. Crude stockpiles are expected to rise by almost 2.2 million barrels, following a larger-than-expected build of more than 2.4 million barrels the previous week.
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Watch for a build of 420,000 barrels in distillate supplies (heating oil, diesel fuel), and a draw of more than 400,000 barrels in gasoline inventories.