US stocks in record territory ahead of FOMC minutes

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

US equity markets witnessed yet another upbeat opening session on Wednesday as traders awaited the latest FOMC meeting minutes for clues over the number of rate hikes in 2018.

Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 Index built on previous session's strong up-move to hit fresh intraday records, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) also following suit and jumped to all-time highs during the opening hour of trade.

At the time of reporting, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed over 20-points and extended its up-move further beyond the psychologically significant level of 7,000. Meanwhile, while the broader S&P 500 Index added nearly 7-points to move past 2,700 mark and the DJIA rose around 40-points to 24,865.

Encouraging signs of growing economic activity around the world helped offset geopolitical concerns and remained supportive of investors' strong appetite for riskier assets - like equities.

Investors now look forward to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting in December, when the central bank raised interest rates for the third time in 2017. The minutes will be looked upon for hints over the number interest rate hikes in 2018 and might eventually drive market sentiment.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

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