Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Whipsaw action in the markets this past half hour followed the release of the FOMC's Minutes from the December meeting which showed that the vast majority of participants viewed it as appropriate to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 4¼ to 4½ percent.

Currently, the S&P 500 (+0.17%) is at afternoon highs and atop its fellow major averages.

Other important points from the Minutes included: In discussing the outlook for monetary policy, participants indicated that the Committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing. They also indicated that if the data came in about as expected, with inflation continuing to move down sustainably to 2 percent and the economy remaining near maximum employment, it would be appropriate to continue to move gradually toward a more neutral stance of policy over time... In addition, many participants suggested that a variety of factors underlined the need for a careful approach to monetary policy decisions over coming quarters.

What's more, the average estimate of survey respondents for the timing of the end of balance sheet runoff shifted a bit later, to June 2025. This shift mainly reflected revisions to estimates by respondents who had expected balance sheet runoff to end in the last quarter of 2024 or in early 2025.

The Minutes also showed that, after incorporating the recent data and preliminary placeholder assumptions about potential policy changes, real GDP growth was projected to be slightly slower than in the previous baseline forecast, and the unemployment rate was expected to be a bit higher but to remain near the staff's estimate of its natural rate.

Yields have come off a bit from their pre-Minutes levels, the yield on the benchmark 10-yr note now little changed on the session at 4.691%, vs. 4.707% before the Minutes.