Wall Street is pointing lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark borrowing rate unchanged for the first time in more than a year, the Associated Press reports. Inflation has slowed since last summer’s peak, but there hasn’t been enough improvement in underlying trends to feel comfortable.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 0.2% before the opening bell today, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.4%.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 88 cents to $69.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gave up $1.15 on Wednesday to $68.27 a barrel.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 96 cents to $74.16 a barrel.
The majority of Fed policy makers indicated Wednesday they still expect its main interest rate to climb at least 0.50 percentage points by the end of the year. The federal funds rate is already at its highest level since 2007, in a range between 5% and 5.25%.
Later Wednesday, the Commerce Department also released retail sales data for May and the Labor Department issued its weekly jobless claims report. Consumer spending and the labor market have largely remained healthy throughout the Fed’s interest rate hikes the past year.
