Salient data for Wednesday:.........>

US DATA PREVIEW: Salient data for Wednesday: Existing home sales for Nov (5.17m

est), FOMC annc (1400ET), Fed Chair Powell press conf.

- JP Morgan economists look for Fed to raise rates .25 bps (funds range to

2.25%-2.50%), statement "will drop the guidance of expecting "further gradual

increases" in rate. JPM posits "general deterioration in financial conditions

will lead the Comm to nudge down their growth forecast. Partly as a consequence,

the median interest rate forecast 'dot' for 2019 will likely slip from 3 hikes

to 2." JP Morgan further adds that if the Fed's stance does become less hawkish

in 2019, would be due to a "faltering in the growth outlook, not a

disappointment in inflation or shift in Fed reaction function."

- Societe Generale economists expect a "dovish " hike of 25 bps Wed, adding it's

"likely...median funds rate projection for '19 will come down...expect

distribution to narrow, with the higher dots moving lower." SocGen said the

statement "will be tweaked to jettison the word "further" in describing the

gradual pace of hikes, but we suspect that it will be coupled with a sentence

indicating that the actual path of the funds rate will depend on incoming data."