Stock Market Today: Nasdaq, Dow, S&P 500 Futures Rise Ahead of Fed Meeting, and Jobless Claims

The Stock Market Today has seen a positive uptick with Nasdaq, Dow, and S&P 500 futures climbing as Wall Street gears up for the year’s first major decision by the Federal Reserve. The optimism of the investors is rising, and the key indexes are showing that there is optimism in the market. The pre-market profits indicate that traders are setting themselves before key economic releases and a landmark FOMC meeting.

Stock Market Today: FOMC Meeting in Focus as Investors Eye Rate Outlook

Futures tied to major U.S. indexes advanced Tuesday morning as traders awaited the start of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting.   The general expectation is that the central bank will maintain the official interest rate constant in its next announcement on January 28. 

Market participants are, however, keeping a close watch on any indication on the possibility and time of more rate cuts.

This is the first policy decision that is taken by the Fed this year. As the current interest rates stand at 3.5 to 3.75%, investors are keen on determining whether past rate reductions have effectively stimulated employment and put a check on inflation. 

This is after 3 consecutive 25 basis point cuts that sought to protect the labor market and tame the risks of deflation.

Markets are priced at 97.2% that the Fed will not reduce the rates to 325-350 bps but will maintain them at 350-375 bps at the 28 Jan 2026 meeting, and have only 2.8% probability of a rate reduction.

In the meantime, new economic reports such as home prices and consumer confidence reports are also set to be released on Tuesday. Such signs can serve as an additional source of information about the U.S. economic power as policymakers ponder.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Hold Steady Ahead of Key Economic Events

The cryptocurrency market remains resilient in the face of uncertainty surrounding monetary policy. In the last 24 hours, cryptocurrency market coins have gained a small surge of 0.95%, which is a sign of stability in the face of the impending volatility. Bitcoin price remains close to the mark of $88,000, with Ethereum price close to $2,700.

This performance comes a few days before the interest rate decision by the Fed and major tech earnings reports. The crypto investors are optimistically cautious as they react to the bigger economic narrative without being overly watchful of macro developments.

Nasdaq, Dow, S&P 500 Rally as Traders Anticipate High-Impact Week

Wall Street’s three major indexes all recorded gains, signaling investor confidence ahead of an event-packed week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 313.69 points or 0.64%, reaching 49,412.40. 

The S&P 500 rose by 34.62 points or 0.50%, pushing it to 6,950.23. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 100.11 points or 0.43%, closing at 23,601.36.

Also, early Tuesday, futures became green. Nasdaq futures went up by 0. 58 and SP 500 futures went up by 0.24, meaning that traders had a positive sentiment.

The following days are full of crypto market-moving events. The important ones are the January 28 Fed ruling, Microsoft, Meta, and Tesla earnings, and January 29 jobless claims and Apple earnings.

The U.S. GDP changes indicate that the growth is based on the investment in AI and the decline of trade deficits. On January 30, the PPI inflation is to be released, and the time to prevent a government shutdown expired. The market volatility is expected to increase as there is now a 76% chance of a US government shutdown by Friday.

With this current bullish trend in place, it is possible that the markets will forge higher and all the major indexes will be well above their recent highs.