Global stocks steady as investors brace for Fed meeting, tariff deadline

Reuters

19 hours ago

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) - Global stocks struggled for clear direction ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy announcement later on Wednesday, with investors cautious after two days of trade talks between the U.S. and China concluded without any major breakthroughs.
Treasury yields and the dollar were also little changed as the market anticipated the Fed will keep rates on hold despite pressure from the White House to lower borrowing costs.
Europe's STOXX 600 (.STOXX), opens new tab was up 0.1%, with blue-chip indexes rising slightly in Frankfurt (.GDAXI), opens new tab and Paris (.FCHI), opens new tab and falling in London (.FTSE), opens new tab.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were pointing to a slightly higher open when Wall Street trading gets underway.
Early gains for MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab petered out to trade flat. Japan's Nikkei 225 (.N225), opens new tab ended the session little changed.
Investors await several central bank decisions, economic reports and corporate earnings over the coming days, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump's August 1 tariff deadline.
Although the Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting later on Wednesday, analysts have predicted some central bank officials who favour lower borrowing costs could voice rare dissent, signalling that a rate cut could happen soon.
"I'm not expecting a rate cut," said George Lagarias, chief economist at Forvis Mazars. "They're going to hint a rate cut in September, but they're not going to commit themselves to it."
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was flat at 4.324, having briefly dropped to its lowest since July 3 at 4.314%. The two-year yield , which is more sensitive to change in interest rate expectations, was little changed at 3.869%.
With the Bank of Japan expected to keep policy unchanged on Thursday, the markets will analyse its comments to gauge when the next rate increase will come after a trade deal between Japan and the U.S. cleared the way for the bank to resume rate hikes.
Some of the negotiations with countries seeking to avert Trump's punitive tariffs are expected to continue up to the deadline.
India is among those bracing for higher U.S. tariffs - likely between 20% and 25% - on some exports as it holds off on fresh trade concessions ahead of the deadline, two Indian government sources said.
Meanwhile, three South Korean cabinet-level officials met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a last-ditch push for a deal.
Earnings were mixed on Wednesday. UBS Group (UBSG.S), opens new tab reported profits that exceeded analysts' expectations, while HSBC profits missed estimates as its losses from China mounted.
German sportswear maker Adidas (ADSGn.DE), opens new tab and French luxury group Kering (PRTP.PA), opens new tab both flagged that tariffs were having an impact on costs and pricing.
U.S. tech megacaps Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Meta (META.O), opens new tab are due to report earnings on Wednesday that will set the tone for the rest of the week and the earnings season.
"It's been a solid U.S. reporting season so far, but these megacap names need to run it hot and blow the lights out, given the bar to please has been sufficiently raised," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.
In currency markets, the dollar index , which measures the currency against six others, rose less than 0.1% to 98.986, just below a five-week high of 99.143 reached on Tuesday.
The euro was down 0.1% against the dollar. The U.S. currency dropped 0.2% to 148.26 yen .
Brent crude futures eased 0.8% to $71.96 a barrel and U.S. crude futures were down 0.8% at $68.68.
Spot gold was up 0.1% to $3,327.85 after hitting a 2-1/2 week low on Monday.