Investors were watching to see what the U.S. Federal Reserve does as it accelerates efforts to curb inflation. The central bank is expected to raise short-term interest rates by double the usual amount when it releases its latest statement on Wednesday. It has already raised its key overnight rate once, for the first time since 2018, and Wall Street is expecting several big hikes in coming months.Investors were watching to see what the U.S.
The Reserve Bank of Australia was due to decide on a rate hike Tuesday. New Zealand has begun raising rates, as have some other central banks in the region apart from Japan and China, where economic recoveries have been slowed by efforts to tame recent outbreaks of coronavirus. On Monday, a late-afternoon turnaround led by technology stocks left major indexes moderately higher on Wall Street, averting more losses following a brutal April when widespread tech sell-offs dragged down major benchmarks.
The uneven start to May follows an 8.8% skid for the benchmark S&P 500 in April led by Big Tech companies, which started to look overpriced, particularly with interest rates set to rise sharply.