Markets Right Now: Stocks opening lower on Wall Street

The CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicates traders are pricing in a 82% probability the target will remain at 0.25% to 0.5% as of September 21, down just slightly from the 85% odds on Tuesday. The UK’s FTSE 100 index slid 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 index retreated 1%, while Germany’s DAX index fell 1.3%.

The FOMC minutes showed that voting members sought to keep options open before raising rates at the July meeting. Fed funds futures showed little change in bets on when the Fed will lift rates, with investors still expecting the next rate increase to likely come in December.

The Fed is raising expectations for an interest rate rise this year, even as early as next month, after two policymakers had on Tuesday said the economic stars now appear to be aligning despite weak United States economic growth in the first half of 2016.

If the USA rate outlook were to change or political or economic risks jangled investors’ nerves, volatility would quickly return. According to him, strong job growth and potential wage growth signal that the economy is in “OK shape”.

Analyst Norman Levine said the market’s non-reaction to the Fed minutes confirms that not much was expected out of the release.

“Following the outcome of the 23 June referendum in the United Kingdom in which a majority indicated a preference to leave the European Union (EU), yields on US Treasury securities fell sharply, US equity prices declined, and the foreign exchange value of the dollar increased”, the Fed pointed out. It raised its target benchmark rate in December for the first time in almost 10 years.

“However, some noted that the Brexit vote had created uncertainty about the medium- to longer-run outlook for foreign economies that could affect economic and financial conditions in the United States”, it continued. It was last trading at 94.854, down nearly 1% on the week.

The Canadian dollar slipped to C$1.2882 per dollar after touching a 7-week high of C$1.2798 on Tuesday, when it was helped by crude oil’s advanced to 1-month highs.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 0.9 percent and the Paris CAC-40 lost 0.6 percent compared with the close on Tuesday.

Stocks have hit highs while dollar debt issued by companies from riskier and less developed countries have been among the year’s best performing assets.

The dollar was also flat on currency markets, with the euro at US$1.1282 and the pound at US$1.3041.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index ended the day with a 0.8% slide from the previous close.

“Members generally agreed that, before taking another step in removing monetary accommodation, it was prudent to accumulate more data in order to gauge the underlying momentum in the labor market and economic activity”.

The pound is bracing for United Kingdom unemployment data later in the day.