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FOMC minutes — What to know in markets Wednesday

Market watchers will turn their attention to the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) January meeting minutes that will be released at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Given the Fed’s recent dovish pivot, investors will be looking for more clarity around the Fed’s monetary policy path for this year after holding rates steady during the January meeting and hiking rates four times in 2018. Furthermore, investors will also be on the lookout for any additional details regarding reducing the $4 trillion in bonds on the central bank’s balance sheet.

“We expect more clarity regarding the FOMC’s plans for balance sheet normalization from the minutes of the January FOMC meeting,” Nomura wrote in a note to clients Sunday. “The minutes from the two preceding meetings – November and December – included important sections on the balance sheet. We believe the corresponding section of the January minutes will confirm the Committee’s plans to end balance sheet normalization by end-2019.”

UBS believes the most important topic will be inflation. “One key theme to pay attention to in the minutes is the discussion of inflation. We see inflation as critical for the FOMC remaining patient. We think the minutes will show some renewed worry about persistently low inflation and inflation expectations,” the firm wrote in a note on Thursday.

Additionally, the following companies will be releasing financial results on Wednesday: Targa Resources (TRGP), Owens Corning (OC), Gannett Co. (GCI), Harry Schein (HSIC), Bausch Health Companies (BHC), CVS Health Corporation (CVS), and Analog Devices (ADI) before market open; CyrusOne (CONE), GoDaddy (GDDY), Albemarle Corporation (ALB), Avis Budget Group (CAR), Boston Beer (SAM), Carbon Black (CBLK), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Jack in the Box (JACK) after market close.

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

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