Opening Comment — Wednesday, March 18, 2026
DJIA: 46,993.26, up 46.85
S&P 500: 6,716.09, up 16.71
NASDAQ: 22,479.53, up 105.35
Stocks higher ahead of Fed meeting
Stock futures are higher Wednesday morning ahead of today’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, with futures markets broadly expecting the Federal Reserve (Fed) to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged, though investors will analyze the updated Summary of Economic Projections and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference. Investors are continuing to evaluate developments in the Iran War, while also looking forward to today’s February Producer Price Index (PPI) and January factory orders data. As of 7:16 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both rising 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.6% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Tuesday as pending home sales registered an unexpected increase in February, rising 1.8% month over month (MOM), while posting a smaller than projected 0.6% decline year over year (YOY). Meanwhile, the New York Fed’s Business Leaders Survey for March showed continued weakness in the region's service sector. The Dow was up 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%. The S&P 500 increased 0.3% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 1.0%, while the Health Care sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.9%.
On the data front, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s gauge of mortgage applications decreased by 10.9% for the week ending March 13 versus the prior week’s increase of 3.2%. The headline PPI for February is expected to show price increases of 0.3% MOM and 3.0% YOY versus the prior month’s increases of 0.5% and 2.9%, respectively. The core PPI, which excludes volatile components like food and energy, is projected to show price increases of 0.3% MOM and 3.7% YOY versus the prior month’s increases of 0.8% and 3.6%, respectively. January’s factory orders are expected to have increased 0.1% MOM versus the prior month’s decrease of 0.7%. Meanwhile, January’s finalized durable goods orders are forecasted to show little change MOM, unchanged from the prior reading. The Department of Energy’s measure of crude oil inventories is expected to have decreased by 1.50 million barrels for the week ending March 13 versus the prior week’s increase of 3.82 million barrels.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as the eurozone’s finalized February Consumer Price Index was revised slightly downward to 0.6% MOM, while headline and core inflation held steady at 1.9% and 2.4% YOY, respectively.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were higher as South Korea’s unemployment rate edged down to 2.9% in February. Meanwhile, the Westpac Leading Index for Australia fell slightly in February. Japan recorded a trade surplus in February, defying expectations for a deficit, driven by stronger than expected export growth and a smaller than anticipated rise in imports.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed ahead of today’s Fed policy decision.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.6% lower at $94.66/barrel ahead of an expected decrease in U.S. crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.9% lower at $4,962.82/ounce.