The Federal Reserve announced their new monetary policy following a two-day meeting. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has decided to cut benchmark interest rates by a quarter-point, bringing the target range to between 1.75% and 2%.
Here's how the U.S. market indexes closed Wednesday:
Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ): -0.11% or 8.62 points
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA): +0.13% or 36.28 points
S&P 500 Index (SPY): +0.034% or 1.03 points
Though the Fed's new monetary policy was in line with market expectations, the policy also included further statements and economic projections that seem to question whether there would be another rate cut any time soon. Following the policy, the Fed included the statement that "sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions and inflation near the Committee's symmetric 2% objective are the most likely outcomes." This statement seems to indicate that this will be the final rate cut until December 11 when the Committee has its final meeting in 2019.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the Federal funds rate was cut "in order to provide insurance against risks," such as the weakness in global economic growth, volatile oil prices, and future trade policies.
In other global news, Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry stated that they have evidence that the government of Iran was behind the drone strike on the country's oil facilities. This challenges the news earlier this week that the attack was thought to originate from Yemen.
President Donald Trump stated that he did not wish to declare war on Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting in Saudi Arabia. Trump on Wednesday called for more sanctions with Iran.
In other stock news, FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was in the news today following its close to 13% stock price decrease after that company missed profit expectations and cut its outlook due to the increasing global trade tensions. The company also saw a loss of volume from Amazon that negatively impacted with quarter. FedEx is one of the more visible companies that has started to feel the effects of China lessening imports due to trade tensions.
Tomorrows update will follow more global trade news as oil prices and U.S. and China trade tensions continue to damage global economic growth.