Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages continue to trade in a stable range just after midday.

Today has been relatively busy with Fed speakers, but it has done little to shift the market's expectations through the end of the year. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman (voting FOMC) member said: "Reacting to temporarily elevated energy price inflation would add unwarranted policy restraint, weighing unnecessarily on economic activity and labor market conditions."

Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson said the current policy stance is appropriate for containing inflation, and long-term inflation expectations remain healthy.

The CME FedWatch tool now assigns a 43.4% probability to a rate hike at the December FOMC meeting, down from 48.4% yesterday.