Why Cruise Line Stocks Sank Ahead of the Fed's Announcement on Wednesday
Cruise line stocks struggled in morning trading on Wednesday ahead of the highly anticipated report from this week's Federal Reserve meeting. In fact, travel industry stocks in general were falling, despite the market overall climbing slightly.
Carnival (NYSE: CCL) dropped by as much as 6.2% in early trading, Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) slid by 7.2%, and Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH) fell as much as 4.9%. The stocks were down 4.2%, 5.1%, and 1.5%, respectively, as of 11:30 a.m. ET.
The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce another 75-basis point increase in the benchmark federal funds interest rate Wednesday afternoon, but that's not all the market is looking at. After these meetings, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hosts news conferences at which he often gives indications about where he thinks the economy and interest rates are going in the future. In focus this time will be his thoughts on inflation, which has proved difficult to tame, and the U.S. employment picture, which remains strong.
Source Fool.com
