US traders cautious ahead of Fed decision

Wall Street traders were still cautious overnight, Australian time, as they waited to see if the Fed would again lower US interest rates.

As a result, the Dow Jones industrial index fell 39.81 points to 12,831.04.

The S&P 500 also dropped 5.43 pints to 1,390.94.

But the tech heavy NASDAQ composite rose 1.7 points to 2,426.10.

Perhaps the most spectacular movement, though, was in oil futures. These fell $US3.35 a barrel to $US115.40.

There was little in this fall, though, to cheer Australia’s long suffering motorists.

Most of it was due, instead, to a strengthening of the US dollar.

The greenback recovered a little of its old clout on expectations that the Fed will cut US interest rates by 0.25 percentage points.

If it does, though, the cut would probably be the last in the current round.

US traders are, finally, responding positively to good news in the market.

Office Depot shares, for example, rose 8.7 per cent overnight after it reported strong profits.

And Mastercard shares jumped 13 per cent after it, too, pleased with higher profits.