Macro Briefing: 2 November 2023

* Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged for a second time
* Another Fed pause helps support stocks and trim Treasury yields
* Treasury outlines plan to lift bond sales to manage growing debt load
* US private sector payrolls rose less than forecast in October: ADP
* ISM Manufacturing Index indicates 12th straight month of contraction in October
* US construction spending increases for ninth straight month in September
* US job openings rise more than forecast in September:

Fed funds futures continue to price in expectations that the Federal Reserve is done with rate hikes after the central bank left its target rate unchanged in yesterday’s policy announcement. “The Fed is basically saying: We don’t think we will have to do much more from here,” advises Bill Dudley, a former New York Fed chief. Fed Chair Powell “feels very confident the Fed has done a lot.”