Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mostly lower ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest decision on interest rates.
At 9:39 ET (13:39 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 124 points or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was flat and the NASDAQ Composite was down 2%.
New data is supporting the case for a pause in interest rate hikes. The Fed will announce its decision this afternoon, followed by a press conference by Chair Jerome Powell.
After Tuesday’s cooler-than-expected growth in the consumer price index for May, today’s producer price index also came in cooler than expected. The PPI fell 0.3% for the month compared with a 0.2% rise in April. Analysts expected a drop of 0.1%.
The Fed is expected to leave interest rates steady at the 5% to 5.25% range after 10 consecutive rate increases since March 2022. Futures traders see a greater than 50% probability that the Fed will resume interest rate increases in July with a quarter of a percentage point hike.
The prospect of a pause in rate increases has lifted stocks in recent weeks, pushing the tech sector higher and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to highs not seen in 14 months. The economy has shown resilience, and some economists are lowering the odds of a recession in the next 12 months.
Investors will be looking to the Fed’s so-called dot-plot forecasts for clues about how policymakers view the next few months in terms of unemployment, inflation, and economic output.
In individual stocks on Wednesday, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was falling 6.8% after the health insurer said it was seeing a jump in medical costs in the second quarter as more older adults seek procedures they had delayed during the pandemic.
That news sent shares of other health stocks falling, including CVS Health Corp. (NYSE:CVS) and Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM).
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) shares rose more than 1% after Reuters reported that Amazon Web Services was considering using its artificial intelligence chips.
Oil rose. Crude Oil WTI Futures was up 1.2% to $70.22 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures was up 1.2% to $75.25 a barrel. Gold Futures was up 0.6% to $1,970.