Wall Street opens in red ahead of FOMC announcements

Major equity indexes in the U.S. started the day with modest losses as investors are looking to refrain from making large bets before the Fed publishes its policy statement and releases the updated economic/policy outlook. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is losing 0.45% on a daily basis while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are erasing 0.25% and 0.12% on the day.

The heavy sell-off witnessed in Germany’s DAX and the Euro Stoxx 50 indexes after car maker giant BMW warned of a significant drop in 2019 profit weighed on the S&P 500 industrials sector on Wednesday, which was last down 0.66% on the day. On the other side, consumer discretionary and communication services are the only sectors staying in the positive territory in the early trade.

FOMC Preview: What 17 major banks are expecting from March meeting?

“Citi analysts expect the Fed to change the median “dot” to indicate one hike only in 2019 but with hawkish risks that it keep them unchanged at two. End of balance sheet reduction may also be announced and the meeting is also likely to see changes to the Fed’s assessment of the US economy,” Citibank said previewing FOMC decisions.