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FOMC minutes, Target, Lowe’s report — What to know in markets Wednesday

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will be releasing its minutes from its last meeting at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday. The Fed held interest rates steady at 2.25% to 2.50% and noted that inflation was running below its target of 2%.

Nevertheless, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments during the press conference that some “transitory” factors could be impacting inflation rattled investors and sent the markets into a frenzy.

Investors will likely turn to the minutes released on Wednesday for additional clues as to what Powell could have meant when he alluded to transitory factors.

“The minutes from the April/May FOMC meeting will likely provide additional context for the Committee’s decision to adopt a consensus view of ‘transitory’ pressures causing weakness in core inflation. Powell’s comments at the May press conference appeared to downplay the recent weakness,” Nomura wrote in a note Friday. “It is possible that the Committee wished to dampen market expectations of the FOMC cutting rates in response to low inflation. We will also closely monitor participants’ views on the preferred direction of the next policy rate view, the balance of risks, and any new developments on balance sheet policy.”

Meanwhile, a few big retailers will be releasing quarterly earnings results. Home improvement giant Lowe’s (LOW) and big box retailer Target (TGT) will report before the opening bell.

After Home Depot’s weaker-than-expected quarterly results, investors will be even more focused on Lowe’s Wednesday morning. Analysts polled by Bloomberg are expecting the home improvement giant to report earnings of $1.33 per share on $17.66 billion in revenue.

Target is expected to report earnings of $1.44 per share on $17.43 billion in revenue, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Heidi Chung is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @heidi_chung.

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