By Joy Wiltermuth and Frances Yue
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell earlier laid plans for the central bank to boost the benchmark interest rate by half-a-percentage point at the next two FOMC meetings in June and July, bringing it to near 2% by August.
After that, Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, said he expects the Fed to make a series of quarter-percentage-point rate hikes at the September, November and December meetings, raising the fed funds to a 2.5% to 2.75% target range at year-end .
The minutes also focused on potential outright sales of the central bank’s mortgage bondholdings as it looks to reduce its near $9 trillion balance sheet. Adams at Comerica said he expects those to start in September, in written commentary.
On the economic front, an outlook Wednesday from the Congressional Budget Office pointed to high inflation that persist s into next year. In data, orders at U.S. factories for long-lasting goods such as machinery and electronics rose 0.4% in April , signaling the economy was still growing at a steady pace in the early spring. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.7% increase.
Which companies were in focus?
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Shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. /zigman2/quotes/200566298/composite DKS -0.66% soared 9.7% Wednesday, after the sporting goods and apparel retailer reported fiscal first-quarter results that beat expectations.
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Express Inc. shares /zigman2/quotes/210459169/composite EXPR -1.20% jumped 6.7% Wednesday, after the clothing retailer posted a narrower-than-expected loss for the first quarter and offered guidance that was above consensus.
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Wendy’s /zigman2/quotes/204070192/composite WEN +1.81% rallied 9.8% after longtime shareholder Trian Fund Management said it was exploring an acquisition or other potential deal for the restaurant chain. Trian is the company’s largest shareholder, with a 19.4% stake.
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Kohl’s Corp. /zigman2/quotes/210414114/composite KSS -2.29% shares gained 11.9% on Wednesday after Reuters reported that bidders continue to circle the retailer at lower prices than earlier this year, but still well above recent trading levels of the stock.
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Nordstrom /zigman2/quotes/203902116/composite JWN -0.69% surged 14% after the retailer raised its annual sales and profit forecast late Tuesday.
How did other assets trade?
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The yield on the 10-year Treasury note /zigman2/quotes/211347051/realtime BX:TMUBMUSD10Y +0.69% fell 1.2 basis points to 2.746%, as investors sought safety in government debt. Yields and Treasury prices move opposite each other.
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The ICE Dollar Index /zigman2/quotes/210598269/delayed DXY +0.34% , which measures the greenback against major currencies, was up 0.3%.
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In oil futures /zigman2/quotes/211629951/delayed CL.1 -0.66% , West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery gained 0.5% to settle at $110.33 a barrel. Gold for June delivery dropped 1% to close at $1,846.30 an ounce.
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Bitcoin /zigman2/quotes/31322028/realtime BTCUSD -1.12% was up 1% nearly $29,600.
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In European equities, the Stoxx Europe 600 /zigman2/quotes/210599654/delayed XX:SXXP -1.05% closed up 0.6%, while London’s FTSE 100 /zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed UK:UKX -0.13% edged 0.5% higher.
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In Asia, the Shanghai Composite /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP -0.77% finished 1.2% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI -1.29% gained 0.3% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK -1.37% dropped 0.3%.
— -Barbara Kollmeyer contributed reporting to this article.
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