FBT First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund

The major U.S. index futures for the Dow Jones, S&P and Nasdaq are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement later this afternoon.

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 99.0 percent chance the Fed will once again leave interest rates unchanged.

With the Fed almost universally expected to leave rates unchanged, traders will look to the accompanying statement as well as officials’ latest projections for clues about the outlook for rates.

The FedWatch Tool currently suggests the Fed is likely to leave rates unchanged again at its next meeting in early May, but the chances of a rate cut increase in June and July.

At the Fed’s most recent meeting in late January, the central bank left rates unchanged after it lowered rates by a total of 100 basis points or 1.0 percentage point over the three previous meetings, beginning with a 50 basis point cut last September.

Stocks moved sharply lower during trading on Tuesday, giving back ground following the significant rebound seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the pullback.

The major averages ended the day off their worst levels but still firmly negative. The Nasdaq tumbled 304.55 points or 1.7 percent to 17,504.12, the S&P 500 slumped 60.46 points or 1.1 percent to 5,614.66 and the Dow slid 260.32 points or 0.6 percent to 41,581.31.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on the recovery seen over the two previous sessions, which saw the Nasdaq and S&P 500 rebound after hitting six-month lows last Thursday.

Concerns about the impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policies continued to weigh on Wall Street along with worries about the economic outlook despite the release of some upbeat economic data.

The Federal Reserve released a report showing industrial production in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of January.

The report said industrial production climbed by 0.7 percent in February after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.3 percent in January.

Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.5 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department also released a report showing new residential construction rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of February.

Meanwhile, traders were also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

Biotechnology stocks saw considerable weakness on the day, resulting in a 1.9 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index (AMEX:FBT).

Significant weakness was also visible among airline stocks with the NYSE Arca Airline Index falling by 1.8 percent.

Computer hardware, semiconductor and software stocks also saw notable weakness, contributing to the steep drop by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

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