The key market event today

is undoubtedly

The latest Federal Reserve meeting which comes later, Fed Chief Janet Yellen is likely to announce the central bank will keep interest rates where they are for the time being (1.25%). However she is also likely to detail the unwinding of the Feds massive balance sheet, as it moves away from its great recession policy. You can read more about what this means here. Crucially for investors, Yellen may also drop hints about how many more times the Fed is likely to raise interest rates in future. This is important because it will indicate how much faith the central bank has in the US economy and its prospects for the future.

Some are worried that as the Fed tightens policy, it will put pressure on stocks, but regardless of what happens with the Fed, one analyst says equity investors needn't worry. In a note to investors, Jeffrey Kleintop of Investment firm Charles Schwab said, "Since the financial crisis ended earnings growth is largely independent of central bank actions." He said that corporate earnings, not central banks, are the real driver of the global equity rally.

In global stock indices today US markets are lower in early trading including the S&P500 (-0.02%). The French CAC40 was the best performing index in Europe, while In Asia, India's NIFTY50 sat firmly above 10,140, having gained well over 100 points since September began. In commodities, metals prices are higher today boosting mining stocks, whilst in currencies the Pound is the main mover, up sharply against the Dollar and Euro off the back of better than expected UK retail sales data. This uptick in the Pound has caused the FTSE100 to dip.

Speaking of stocks, last night shares in both FedEx and Adobe slipped after their latest earnings reports. FedEx lowered its 2018 earnings guidance so naturally the stock price fell, but even though Adobe reported robust growth - third-quarter net income of $419.6 million, compared to $270.8 million a year-ago, the share price slipped by around 3%. However, perhaps investors will feel more bullish today when the market opens and the share price may swing upwards, especially considering Adobe broke a corporate record for quarterly revenue.

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