Fed day kicks off with initial jobless claims and Q3 productivity data

Get ready to turn down the political noise and turn up the Fed noise.

The FOMC decision is at 2 pm ET and Powell will hold a press conference 30 minutes later. A cut is coming but the big question is how the Fed will react to the 85 bps rise in Treasury yields since they cut rate by 50 bps. The market has dialed down expected rate cuts beyond December and Powell could validate that sentiment, as economic data has run much stronger than feared.

Will the jobs market hold up?

Part of that answer will come from this week’s initial jobless claims report at the bottom of the hour. The consensus is 221K and any major miss will likely be due to one-off factors.

At the same time, we also get Q3 productivity data and at 10 am ET, we get the wholesale sales report. Neither are market movers.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.