U.S. stocks edged higher on Tuesday as corporate earnings continued to roll in and the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting got underway. This comes after U.S. stocks plunged on Monday, with the Nasdaq losing 2.0% in what was its worst day of trading since December.
Following Monday’s blow, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained approximately 1.1%, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced by 0.8% and 0.4% respectively.
Oil steadied after taking a significant tumbling ahead of the OPEC+ meeting that is set to commence on Wednesday. Participating oil ministers are expected to review the group’s current output policy.
Investors’ focus remains fixed on this week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting. The central bank is widely expected to implement a quarter percentage point interest rate rise.
“[We] expect [Fed Chair] Powell to be quite hawkish in the press conference,” Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JP Morgan, commented in a note. “We look for him to stress two themes: (i) slowing is not stopping, and (ii) don’t expect rate cuts in ’23.”
