Wall Street heads into midweek directionless as traders eye Fed minutes

Ding, dong. 

And good morning. Wall Street is limping toward the midpoint of a rough week, and Wednesday is not offering much of a hand up.

Futures for the Dow and S&P 500 are loitering around the flat line, while the Nasdaq-100 is nudging slightly higher. Nobody looks in a hurry to buy.

The mood soured overnight in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei shed 3%, and South Korea’s KOSPI tumbled 5%. Rising bond yields, firmer oil and Tuesday’s tech sell-off are all doing their bit to keep the bulls at bay.

The one flash of drama came from Donald Trump, who took to Truth Social late on Tuesday to pause his threatened 50% tariffs on Canadian goods for three days, declaring in customary capitals that the two countries have “a DEAL!”

The levies, due at midnight, were never going to move the economic needle much, but they set the tone for looming talks over the USMCA trade pact.

There is proper substance ahead too. Minutes from the Fed’s July meeting land later, offering a peek at the inflation debate inside the room.

And the American shopper takes centre stage, with results from Target, Lowe’s and TJX. Target is already out, and it beat again, lifting its outlook as a price-cutting revamp keeps winning back customers.