How are stock-index futures trading:
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 50 points, or 0.20%, to 44,057
S&P 500 futures increased 11 points, or 0.18%, to 6,138
Nasdaq 100 futures increased by 34.5 points, or 0.15%, to 22,348
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 268 points, or 0.61%, to 43,450, the S&P 500 declined 23 points, or 0.39%, to 6,051, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 65 points, or 0.32%, to 20,109.
Stock futures increased on Wednesday morning as investors readied themselves for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rate cuts at 2 p.m. Eastern. Markets are currently pricing in a 95% likelihood that America’s central bank will cut rates by 25 basis points, information from CME’s FedWatch shows.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. that will offer critical insight into the U.S. central bank’s view on the economy into 2025. Investors increasingly expect the Fed might pivot in a more hawkish direction in response to mounting economic data showing inflation is stickier than previously anticipated.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished lower for its ninth session in a row on Tuesday evening. The ‘Magnificent Seven’ megacap technology stocks, meanwhile, continued to outperform on Tuesday, even as the wider S&P 500 index was driven down by declines in most of the index’s constituents.
The situation saw more S&P 500 index constituents fall than rise on Tuesday for the 12th trading session in a row – in what marks the second longest streak in 100 years. The record was set in 1978 when there were more decliners than advancers for 14 days in a row.
