What's most important for traders this week?

Sunday, 16/12/2018 | 18:37 GMT-0

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas but not so fast.

The clock is clicking toward Christmas and the end of the year, but this week has still some unfinished business.

On Wednesday, the Fed is expected to announce a hike of 0.25 basis points to a range of 2.25% to 2.5% at 2:00 PM ET/1900 GMT.

If done, it will be the 4th hike for the Fed this year. The chance of a hike are about 73% and there have been some doves on the Fed, who recently said that they feel delaying would be more prudent given global uncertainty.

The Fed and Chairman Powell, will start to have press conferences after each meeting starting in January (January 30 is the next meeting). That does open the door for a less scheduled hike cycle as the Fed transitions to a policy dependent more on the data vs. a policy of getting rates back to neutral.

On Wednesday, if the Fed does hike as expected, the market will be focused on the wording for the future path of rates, as well as the expectations for rate expectations in 2019.

The markets will also be eyeing any developments on a potential government shutdown by Pres. Trump if funds are not allocated to pay for a border wall, and developments on US/China trade. Brexit developments will also remain in the forefront of traders minds.

Other key events this week include:

Tuesday: