Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Today's trade features a positive bias ahead of the FOMC decision at 2:00 ET and Fed Chair Powell press conference at 2:30 ET. Rebound action in the mega cap space, which led yesterday's declines, has propelled the equity market higher.

Tesla (TSLA 234.48, +9.17, +4.1%), which received approval for passenger transportation in California, according to Bloomberg, and NVIDIA (NVDA 118.03, +2.59, +2.2%) are standouts in that respect.

The S&P 500 (+0.7%) has won back everything it lost yesterday and then some, sitting near its best level of the session now. The Nasdaq Composite (+1.0%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.6%) are also near session highs.

Just about everything has come along for the upside ride except some defensive-oriented areas of the market, reflecting a risk-on tilt. The health care (-0.3%) and consumer staples (-0.2%) sectors are in negative territory while eight sectors trade higher.

The energy sector is among the top performers, trading 1.4% higher amid rising oil prices ($67.38, +0.63, +0.9%).

Market participants largely expect the fed to keep the target range for the fed funds rate unchanged at 4.25-4.50% today. The fed funds futures rate is still pricing in at least 50 basis points of rate cuts by the end of the year, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Expectations may shift following the FOMC decision as participants focus on Mr. Powell's tone and any indication of what the policy path may be.

Reviewing today's economic data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications -6.2%; Prior 11.2%
• Weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories showed a build of 1.75 million barrels following last week's build of 1.45 million barrels