US stocks trade flat ahead of key policy decision from the Fed

US stocks trade flat ahead of key policy decision from the Fed

US stocks were virtually flat in Wednesday morning trades as investors await the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's highly anticipated December meeting this afternoon. Powell is expected to take a hawkish tilt to better combat rising inflation, which hit 40-year records last week. The surge in inflation comes as America's employment situation continues to improve following the pandemic, giving the Fed more flexibility to shift its focus towards taming rising prices. Potential changes to the Fed's policy could include a quicker taper of its monthly bond purchasing program, as well as more concrete outlook as to how many interest rate hikes investors can expect in 2022 and beyond. The US Fed isn't the only central bank feeling the heat from rising inflation. The UK saw , putting pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates. Retail sales data after a strong October. US Retail sales rose 0.3% in November, well below economist estimates for a rise of 0.8%. Rising inflation and an early holiday shopping season due to concerns about supply chain backlogs and shipping delays likely contributed to the weaker than expected data point. A glitch in the highly referenced crypto price websites CoinMarketCap and Coinbase ,