Top 5 Things to Know in The Market on Wednesday - Investing.com

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Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Wednesday, April 10:

1. Fed Minutes, U.S. Inflation Data

Investors will focus on the release of the from the Federal Reserve's last meeting, due at 2:00PM ET (18:00 GMT), for further insight into the outlook for monetary policy in the months ahead.

The U.S. central bank all but swore off raising interest rates again this year at the conclusion of its policy meeting on March 20 and indicated it intends to end the reduction of its massive $4.2 trillion balance sheet by September.

In addition to the Fed, the Commerce Department will publish March at 8:30AM ET (12:30 GMT).

Consumer prices are expected to have risen 0.3% last month, according to estimates. On an annual basis, the CPI is projected to have risen 1.8%.

Excluding the cost of food and fuel, core inflation prices are forecast to have risen 0.2% last month and 2.1% from a year earlier.

The , which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was at 96.54 by 5:45AM ET (10:45 GMT), not far from Tuesday's two-week low of 96.46.

In the bond market, U.S. Treasury yields were little changed, with the benchmark yield slipping to 2.49%.

2. ECB Meeting

The is all but certain to keep policy on hold at the conclusion of today's policy meeting, which was brought forward by a day to allow policymakers to get to Washington DC in time for the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting.

The ECB's decision is due at 7:45AM ET (11:45 GMT), while President 's press conference is scheduled for 8:30AM ET (12:30 GMT).

Market participants will be anxious to hear more detail about the possibility of a tiered deposit rate, a step that would allow the ECB to cut its official interest rates again without hurting the already weak profitability of Eurozone banks.

They’ll also want to hear more about the new long-term loans that are due to start in September.

The held firm at $1.1275, extending its slow recovery from a four-week low of $1.1183 touched on April 2.

3. Emergency Brexit Summit

European leaders will decide whether to grant the U.K. another extension to its departure from the European Union at an emergency summit in Brussels.

The summit begins at 12:00PM ET (16:00 GMT).

British Prime Minister Theresa May will formally present her case for requesting a short delay to Brexit until June 30.

However, it’s widely expected that the U.K. will be granted a longer, flexible extension with conditions attached.

An extension until the end of the year or until March 2020, was shaping up to be most likely, EU diplomats said. Such an option would allow Britain to leave earlier if parliament can agree on an alternative to the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by May's government and the EU.

The was a shade higher at $1.3073.

4. EIA Oil Supply Report

In commodities, the U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its official weekly oil supplies report for the week ended April 5 at 10:30AM ET (14:30 GMT).

Analysts expect the EIA to report a gain of around 2.2 million barrels in crude inventories. The American Petroleum Institute, a trade organization, said late on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose 4.1 million barrels in the latest week.

The API and EIA figures often diverge.

U.S. futures were up 52 cents, or around 0.8%, at $64.50 a barrel, after going as high as $64.79 in the prior session, the most since Nov. 1.

International futures were at $71.06 per barrel, up 45 cents, or about 0.7%, within sight of Tuesday's five-month peak of $71.34.

Prices remained supported amid geopolitical concerns in Libya. Any disruption in Libyan oil exports will further squeeze a global crude market already struggling to adjust to U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.

5. U.S. Futures Point to Slightly Higher Open

On Wall Street, U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open, as market participants await inflation data and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.

The blue-chip were up 40 points, or about 0.2%, the rose 5 points, or around 0.2%, while the tech-heavy indicated a gain of 11 points, or roughly 0.2%.

U.S. stocks lost ground on Tuesday as the IMF lowered its global growth outlook and as President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on $11 billion of European goods.

Elsewhere, European stocks rose in mid-morning trade, led by advances in Madrid and Frankfurt.

Earlier, shares in Asia closed mixed amid fresh concerns over the outlook for the global economy.

Read more: : Jesse Cohen

-- Reuters contributed to this report

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2019-04-10 09:47:00Z
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