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Morning Watchlist: FOMC Expected to Hold Rates Steady
Tom White
June 18, 2025
U.S. stock futures are relatively flat ahead of the opening bell as traders monitor the latest developments in the Middle East.
On late Tuesday, President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to threaten Iran’s leader, saying that “our patience is wearing thin” and calling for “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
Investors are also bracing for the Federal Reserve’s latest rate policy decision this afternoon. The FOMC is expected to hold rates steady, but investors will be keeping a close eye on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting comments.
The summary of economic projections (SEP) will also be closely watched for any changes to expectations from the individual members.
Markets are closed tomorrow for the Juneteenth holiday.
Morning Movers
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are up slightly near $73.50 a barrel after ending the previous session up more than 4% on worries that the Iran-Israel conflict could disrupt supplies. API reports that crude inventories fell 10.1M barrels last week. Gasoline inventories fell 200,000 barrels.
Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are basically flat near $3400 as investors paused from making significant bets ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision, while keeping a close watch on escalating developments in the Israel-Iran conflict.
Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is down 0.3% near 104.5K in premarket trading.
VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index jumped 13% on Tuesday and settled at 21.60 as stocks fell.
U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is basically flat around 98.3.
Biggest Premarket Movers
Symbol | Product | Mark % Change (as of 7 AM ET) |
|---|---|---|
NUE | Nucor | +2.54% |
AMD | AMD | +1.49% |
ORCL | Oracle | +1.35% |
ZTS | Zoetis | -1.04% |
NCLH | Norwegian Cruise | -0.83% |
LUV | Southwest Airlines | -0.57% |
Economic Data
Time | Event |
|---|---|
7:00AM ET | MBA Mortgage Applications |
8:30AM ET | Housing Starts & Permits Jobless Claims |
10:00AM ET | Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations |
10:30AM ET | Oil Inventories |
12:00PM ET | Natural Gas Inventories |
2:00PM ET | FOMC Announcement |
2:30PM ET | Fed Chair Powell Presser |
Notable Earnings
Premarket | Postmarket | Premarket Friday | Postmarket Friday |
|---|---|---|---|
ACB, GMS, KFY | SWBI | ACN, KMX, DRI, KR | None |
Upgrades/Downgrades
Cantor Fitzgerald upgrades Analog Devices (ADI) to Overweight from Neutral
Morgan Stanley upgrades REV Group (REVG) to Equal Weight from Underweight
RBC Capital downgrades Sunrun (RUN) to Sector Perform from Outperform
Argus downgrades Norwegian Cruise (NCLH) to Hold from Buy
Stifel downgrades Zoetis (ZTS) to Hold from Buy
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