U.S. Stock Futures Gain; All Eyes On Fed Decision

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade on Wednesday ahead of the much-awaited interest rate decision from the Fed. Investors are awaiting earnings results from The Boeing Company BA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY, Meta Platforms, Inc. META and Ford Motor Company F.

Data on durable goods orders, U.S. international trade in goods and wholesale inventories will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The pending home sales index for June is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. The Fed is projected to increase its federal funds policy rate by 75 basis points for a second consecutive meeting. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Why This Biotechnology Surged More Than 60%; Here Are 67 Biggest Movers From Yesterday

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 175 points to 31,907.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 40.25 points to 3,963.50. Futures for the Nasdaq index surged 191.75 points to 12,304.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $99.78 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $95.40 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 92,494,010 with around 1,052,930 deaths. India reported a total of at least 43,938,760 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 33,660,600 cases.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%, while German DAX rose 0.2%.

Loans to households in the Eurozone increased 4.6% year-over-year in June. Italian consumer confidence fell to 94.8 in July from 98.3 a month ago, while manufacturing confidence declined to 106.7 in July from a revised 109.5. Consumer confidence in France declined for the seventh month running to 80 in July.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.22%, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.05% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.13%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%, while India’s S&P BSE Sensex surged 1%.

The index of coincident economic indicators in Japan fell to 94.9 in May from the flash figure of 95.6, while index of leading economic indicators slipped to 101.2 in May from the preliminary reading of 101.4. The annual inflation rate in Australia increased to 6.1% in the second quarter from 5.1% in the prior quarter. Profits earned by Chinese industrial firms rose by 1% year-over-year to CNY 42.70 trillion in the first half of the year.

Broker Recommendation

Canaccord Genuity upgraded Newmont Corporation NEM from Hold to Buy and lowered the price target from $66 to $60.

Newmont shares rose 1.5% to $46.83 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Alphabet Inc. GOOGL reported downbeat earnings for its second quarter on Tuesday. However, revenue for the company’s Search and Other segment was $40.7 billion, up 13.7% year-over-year.
• Microsoft Corporation MSFT reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday. However, the company issued an upbeat sales outlook for the fiscal year.
• Bitcoin BTC/USD, the world’s most valued cryptocurrency, managed to rise above the $21,000 mark, recording gains on Wednesday.
• Visa Inc V reported better-than-expected results for its fiscal third-quarter on Tuesday.

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