Meeting minutes to be released at 2 PM ET/1900 GMT
Looking ahead to Friday, the FOMC meeting minutes from the December 2019 rate decision (no change) will be released at 2 PM ET/1900 GMT. The meeting minutes are usually released midweek, but because of the new year holiday, the release has pushed off to a unique Friday afternoon.
The Fed kept rates unchanged and marked to market the dot plot to reflect the lower funds target. The Fed members did not see a rate hike in 2020, but continue to see one hike in 2021 and 2022.
The GDP forecast for 2020 was raised to 2.0% -2.2% from 1.8% -2.1%. In September.
The unemployment forecast for 2020 was lower to 3.5%-3.7% from 3.6%-3.8% in September.
The PCE inflation remains near unchanged levels at 1.8%-1.9% from 1.8%-2.0% in September.
The Core PCE inflation remained unchanged at 1.9%-2.0% from September.
In the press conference Fed's chair remain positive about the US economy but warned against sluggish global growth and trade tensions. He called Fed policy somewhat accommodative. He reiterated the view that the Fed would need to see a significant and persistent move higher inflation before lifted rates.
Tomorrow the economic calendar will also include:
- Construction spending for the month of November. The estimate is for 0.4% versus -0.8% in October. The release will be at 10 AM ET/1500 GMT
- ISM manufacturing for December will also be released at 10 AM ET with expectations of 49.0 versus 48.1. New orders came in at 47.2 last month. Prices paid is expected to rise to 47.5 from 46.7 last month. Employment came in at 46.6 last month
- The Wards total vehicle sales for the month of December are expected to come in at 17.0M units versus 17.09M last month
