00:00Moving on to international updates, the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept its target range for the federal funds rates
00:05unchanged at 3.75% to 4%, less than a week ahead of the 2026 mid-term elections.
00:12Therefore, US stock indexes advanced on Wednesday, October 28, as widely expected, shifting the probability of a rate hike to
00:19its next monetary policy meeting in December.
00:23In its accompanying statement, the Fed upgraded its assessment of the economy while acknowledging inflation remains elevated.
00:31At the press conference following the release, Fed Chair Kevin Walsh said the central bank has made clear its willingness
00:37and readiness to act.
00:39Financial markets are pricing in an 87.4% likelihood of a 25 basis point rate hike at the Fed's
00:46December meeting, up from 78.3% on Tuesday, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
00:53Rate hike forecasts could be swayed by data expected on Thursday, including the Commerce Department's Personal Consumption Expenditures report, which
01:02includes the central bank's preferred inflation gauge and an advanced take on the third-quarter GDP.
01:08Clearly, you know, a few days heading into the midterm elections, I have to imagine the Fed committee members didn't
01:14want to put their thumb on the on the scale.
01:17But I also think it's kind of a silent admissions that, you know, maybe they don't control interest rates in
01:24general, certainly not on the long end of the spectrum.
01:28And potentially that there's some truth to the fact that they just wanted to see how some massive things are
01:34going on out there in the economy are going to go.
01:38I was struck by the first 5-10 minutes of his comments in the press conference, and it sounded like
01:44he was justifying the reason for the increase of the rates in this meeting.
01:49But there was none, as we know.
01:51So it didn't seem to line up, the decision with his comments.
01:56And so it's a little surprising, potentially, that there wasn't an increase in the rates today.
02:03According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 25.43 points or 0.33% to end at 7
02:11,748.03 points,
02:14while the Nasdaq Composite gained 83.42 points or 0.32% to 26,561.24.
02:23The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 126.21 points or 0.24% to 52,503.78.
