Stock market today: Fed cut eases, Lowe slips and Albemarle sinking

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected to accelerate the phase-out of the central bank’s asset purchase program in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic and will likely signal that interest rate increases will occur more sooner than expected next year.

Investors will also consider comments by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at his post-meeting press conference. A more conciliatory message than the markets expected would take investors by surprise. This could happen if, for example, the central bank considers that the Omicron coronavirus variant could have more serious consequences for the recovery than is generally expected.

“[The] The biggest risk for equities remains a more hawkish change in tone with the QE cut accelerating faster than expected and hints of more than two rate hikes next year, ”writes Tom Essaye of Sevens Reports.

With all the recent volatility in the stock market, especially in the tech-rich Nasdaq, it’s possible that much of the Fed’s decision has been incorporated. the FOMC meeting, ”writes Tom Lee of Fundstrat. “[WebelievethatthisstrikeofbuyersbeforetheFOMCcouldturnintoabuyingevent”[WethinkthisbuyersstrikeinfrontofFOMCcouldturnintoa’buytheevent’”[NouspensonsquecettegrèvedesacheteursdevantleFOMCpourraitsetransformerenunévénementd’achat »[WethinkthisbuyersstrikeinfrontofFOMCcouldturnintoa‘buytheevent’”

The Fed isn’t the only central bank to meet this week. The Bank of England and the European Central Bank will hold similar important policy meetings on Thursday. However, European markets seem to be managing the risk well on Wednesday, with the

Stoxx 600
index up 0.45% and that of France

CAC40 index
the top riser, up 0.7% at midday while the

spanish stock exchange
was down 0.6%.

Asian stock markets ended the day in the red, with the

Hang Seng Index
down 0.9% and the

Shanghai Composite
down 0.4%.

Here are seven actions in motion Wednesday:

Eli lilly

(ticker: LLY) gained 4.7% after offering above-consensus earnings and sales forecasts for 2021 and 2022.

Six Flags Entertainment

(SIX) rose 3.3% after being upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Albemarle

(ALB) fell 6.2% after being cut to sell neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Lowe’s

(LOW) fell 3.4% after offering a disappointing 2022 forecast ahead of its investor day.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

(REGN) slipped 2.8% after being slashed to Market Perform from Outperform to Bernstein.

Cineworld

(CINE.UK), the world’s second-largest cinema operator and owner of Regal, fell 27% on Wednesday after a Canadian court ruled the London-listed group had to pay some $ 957 million to compete with Cineplex after having given up on a recovery plan.

Actions in

Index

(ITX.Spain), the world’s largest fashion retailer and owner of the Zara brand, is down 3.6%, after the group unveiled a doubling in online sales in 2020, but disappointed analysts with lower-than-expected margins.

Write to Pierre Briançon at pierre.briancon@dowjones.com