This Tuesday markets will focus on the Fed’s policy meeting for more clues about the strength of the U.S. economy. Besides that, investors will also watch the latest series of earnings and a series of economic data later today. Elsewhere, tech firms are heading to capitol hill to testify on Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. election where Trump was chosen for president. These are some of the big things to know for today, read more below.
1. Fed kicks off 2-Day meeting
The Federal Reserve kicks off its 2-day policy meeting today, at which it is not expected to take action on interest rates, though it could point the markets toward the rate hike widely expected in December.
The policy meeting takes place just days before President Donald Trump names a new Fed chair on Thursday to replace Janet Yellen when her term ends in February, with sources saying the pick is going to be current Fed Governor Jerome Powell.
Powell is seen as being more dovish on monetary policy than other contenders for the post, especially compared to Stanford University economist John Taylor, who has been regarded as another top challenger for the position.
Besides the Fed, there is a batch of data on today's economic calendar, including the employment cost index at 12:30 GMT, S&P Case/Schiller home price index at 13:00 GMT, Chicago PMI at 13:45 GMT and CB consumer confidence at 14:00 GMT.
The U.S. dollar index was a touch higher, while Treasury yields eased up.
Investors were cautious following news that investigators probing Russian interference in the U.S. election had charged President Donald Trump's former campaign manager and following reports that planned tax cuts could be gradually phased-in.
2. More U.S. earnings to come
Around 55% of the S&P 500 has reported financial results as of this morning, with 74% of those companies beating estimates on the bottom line while 66% have topped sales expectations.
Tuesday's batch of corporate earnings includes results from Mastercard, Pfizer, Under Armour, Shopify, AK Steel, Cummins, Aetna and Lumber Liquidators, all due ahead of the opening bell.
After the close, EA Sports, US Steel and Anadarko Petroleum are just a few of the names on the docket.
3. Tech giants head to Capitol Hill
Executives from Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet's Google will testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch, Twitter acting General Counsel Sean Edgett, and Richard Salgado, Google's director of law enforcement and information security, are among the witnesses at the hearing to discuss solutions to Russian disinformation.
Facebook said on Monday that Russia-based operatives published about 80,000 posts on the social network over a two-year period and that about 126 million Americans may have seen the posts during that time.
Twitter separately has found 2,752 accounts linked to Russian operatives. That estimate is up from a tally of 201 accounts that Twitter reported in September.
The Russian government has denied any attempts to sway the election, in which President Donald Trump, a Republican, defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
4. Eurozone inflation slowing
Inflation in the euro zone slowed more than expected in October, remaining well below the European Central Bank's target, data showed, lending support to the bank's decision to withdraw monetary stimulus only slowly.
Consumer prices rose 1.4% this month, the European Union’s statistics office said. That was below expectations for an increase of 1.5% and compared a final reading of a 1.5% advance in the prior month.
In a further blow to the ECB’s drive to boost inflation, the core rate dropped to a five-month low of 0.9%.
The ECB last week said it would cut its bond purchases in half from January, but extended the program until the end of September, promised years of stimulus and left the door open to backtracking, citing muted price pressures.
In a separate release, the European Union's statistics office said gross domestic product in the 19-country currency bloc increased 0.6% on the quarter and 2.5% on the year, mostly in line with forecasts.
Another report showed that the region's unemployment rate dropped to 8.9%, its lowest level since 2009. The euro was a touch lower at 1.1630 against the dollar.
