The Federal Reserve, under Chair Jerome Powell, raised the fed funds rate by a cumulative 3.75% points since it began tightening in March, with opinions divided over the legitimacy of the Fed action.
The pullback in retail gasoline prices was the talk of the town over the weekend, with even President Joe Biden calling attention to it. Drawing an inference from the data, an analyst stepped up his call for the Fed to step away.
The index futures are pointing to a moderately lower opening by Wall Street stocks on Monday after the averages closed Friday’s session narrowly mixed in reaction to the November non-farm payrolls report.