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Category: Stockmarket / Currency / Futures / Markets / Money and Monetary Policy

Wall St closes flat as investors await Fed meeting

Tuesday, 15 Mar 2016 05:30:22 | Thuy Ong

US stocks took a breather from their recent rally ahead of this week's Fed meeting. (Reuters)

Wall Street has closed little changed after a choppy session as investors waited on the sidelines ahead of a key US Federal Reserve meeting.

Investors are not expecting the US Fed to raise interest rates at its two-day meeting which begins on Tuesday, but are hoping for more assurance central banks will continue to support growth.

"The Fed will be conscious of emphasising the need to tighten, but only gradually," said Rodrigo Catril, currency strategist at National Australia Bank.

"In December, officials projected another four rate increases in 2016, in today's environment that looks way too aggressive."

Markets have been roiled by volatility in the first few months of the year, as a slump in commodity prices and growth uncertainty in China hit investor confidence.

At the finish, the S&P 500 dipped 0.1 per cent to 2,020.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 per cent to 17,229, while the Nasdaq finished flat at 4,750.

Gains among consumer stocks were offset by weakness in energy and financial shares.

Oil prices fell some 3 per cent on concerns US stockpiles continue to grow, at the same time Iran has shown little interest in freezing production. West Texas crude shed 3 per cent to $US37.18.

Overnight, European shares finished higher, supported by the auto sector and mining shares.

In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.6 per cent to 6,175, the German DAX jumped 1.6 per cent to 9,990, while France's CAC 40 added 0.3 per cent to 4,507.

Locally, shares are set to post modest gains, with the ASX SPI 200 up 0.1 per cent to 5,177.

Later today, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes from its March meeting.

Checking currencies, the Australian dollar had lost 0.8 per cent to 75 US cents.

It was also buying 85.4 Japanese yen, 52.5 British pence, 67.6 euro cents and $NZ1.126.

On commodities markets, spot gold lost 1.7 per cent to $US1,235 an ounce, while iron ore fell to $US55.50 a tonne.

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