Fed News Can’t Stop Down Day In Stock Market

Is this Wild Street or Wall Street?

Into the open, the stock market on Wednesday was trading negative led by the Nasdaq. Resistance set by the bears in the previous session was felt overnight and into the opening bell.

Overall, the stock market was showing signs of weakness in expectation of the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes in early afternoon. 

At the open the S&P 500 was trying to find its feet as the Nasdaq was still clearly the weaker sector as big tech struggled early. The bulls were trying to take over the market but failed. The weakness in the technology sector was held even as the S&P 500 futures tried to reach the psychological level of 4,300. 

By mid-morning the Nasdaq took control of the market as the sellers moved throughout the entire stock market. This provided a steady downward move for the remaining time of the morning session. Bears put on a steady pace to the downside with strong bearish momentum.

The bulls would not go down without a fight with the FOMC release ahead. The bulls were able to take back control and bring the S&P 500 back to where it was when the bell rang for the cash session open. The Nasdaq however was still relatively weak and unable to get back to its opening level.

When the FOMC meeting notes were released there was an initial positive reaction. The S&P 500 futures quickly overcame its opening level and started to push with the support of the bulls. The S&P 500 futures were even close to turning positive on the session, nearing the psychological level of 4,300.

The FOMC minutes showed that the Federal Reserve (Fed) was expecting a slowdown in inflation, but also expected to continue raising benchmark interest rates.

Once the news was fully digested and the market was able to decide the next leg of direction, the bears took back the reins from the bulls and continued to make progress from where they started to begin the day.

The bears brought the S&P 500 futures all the way back down to where they were as FOMC minutes were released. As the final minutes of the stock market arrived neither the bulls or the bears made an impressive move.

At the close both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 futures ended negative on the session. The S&P 500 futures closed down.70%, losing 30 points, while the Nasdaq futures closed down 1.23%, declining 167 points.