Dow Jones Industrial Average swims in a tight circle ahead of Fed rate call

• The Dow Jones is looking to the high side, but is hesitant ahead of the Fed's latest interest rate decision.
• The FOMC is broadly expected to stand pat on interest rates, and investors will be focused on any changes in policy communication.
• Another rate hold will likely draw more ire from the Trump administration.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is churning the charts in near-term consolidation, stuck near the 42,350 level as investors hunker down and await the Federal Reserve's (Fed) latest rate call. The Fed is broadly expected to stand pat on rates until at least September, leaving investors to comb through the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) and look for any shifts in the wording of policy statements.

The Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) SEP, or "dot plot", will be updated on Wednesday. Fed policymakers tend to have a high degree of accuracy when forecasting when, and by how much, the Fed will adjust rates, so any shifts in the dot plot will shoot to the top of market attention.

US President Donald Trump will likely be paying close attention to the Fed's rate call as well. Trump has been ramping up caustic rhetoric against the Fed, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell specifically, in recent months. President Trump is looking for ways to lower the financial burden of US debt servicing, and convincing the Fed to arbitrarily lower interest rates could accomplish that. However, the Fed remains firmly entrenched in a "wait and see" stance as policymakers brace for downside economic impacts from the Trump administration's on-again, off-again tariff policies.

The FOMC's latest interest rate decision and SEP update are due at 18:00 GMT. Fed Chair Powell's follow-up press conference and ensuing Q&A session will begin shortly after, at 18:30 GMT.

Read more pre-Fed stock news: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan gain on Wednesday ahead of Fed interest rate decision

Dow Jones price forecast

The Dow Jones is churning in a tight midrange, trapped in near-term congestion. The major equity index is caught in a consolidation zone just north of the 200-day Exponential Moving Average near 41,800, and price action is pulling into the midrange with technical oscillators hung in no man's land.

Dow Jones daily chart