Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Pare Gains As Investors Await Fed Decision—GameStop, GE Vernova, Adobe, Oracle In Focus (UPDATED)

(Editor’s note: The future prices of benchmark tracking ETFs and the headline were updated in the story.)

U.S. stock futures pared earlier gains on Wednesday to decline after Tuesday's mixed close. Futures of major benchmark indices were lower.

The Federal Open Market Committee‘s two-day meeting ends today, with investors eyeing a rate cut decision and Fed Chair Jerome Powell‘s speech in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.20% and the two-year bond was at 3.62%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 89.9% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates later today.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket on Wednesday. The SPY was down 0.12% at $682.24, while the QQQ declined 0.22% to $623.68, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Stocks In Focus

GameStop

• GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) dropped 6.38% in premarket on Wednesday after it posted third-quarter revenue of $821 million, missing analyst estimates of $987.28 million and earnings of 24 cents per share, beating estimates of 20 cents.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that GME maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value ranking. Additional performance details are available here.

GE Vernova

• GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV) jumped 7.72% after it doubled its dividend and raised its multi-year outlook. As part of its 2025 Investor Update event, GE Vernova announced a series of updates, including strong guidance looking out to 2028.

• GEV maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a weak value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Adobe

• Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) was 0.02% lower ahead of its earnings scheduled to be released after the closing bell. Analysts expect earnings of $5.39 per share on revenue of $6.11 billion for the latest quarter.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings shows that ADBE maintains a stronger price trend over the short term but a weak trend in the long and medium terms, with a moderate quality score. Additional information is available here.

Oracle

• Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) rose 1.07% as analysts expect earnings of $1.64 per share on revenue of $16.22 billion after the closing bell.

• It maintains a stronger price trend over the long term but a weak trend in the short and medium terms, with a solid growth ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Braze

• Braze Inc. (NASDAQ:BRZE) shares climbed 15.37% after posting better-than-expected revenue for the third quarter and raising its fiscal 2026 guidance.

• BRZE maintained a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor growth ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Cues From Last Session

Energy, information technology, and consumer staples stocks recorded the biggest gains on Tuesday, while health care and industrials bucked the trend to close lower.

Insights From Analysts

BlackRock maintains a decidedly “pro-risk” stance, remaining “overweight U.S. stocks on the AI theme”. They view the massive artificial intelligence buildout as the primary driver for equities, arguing that “micro is macro” because the sheer scale of investment could reshape the broader economy.

While acknowledging concerns about a potential bubble, BlackRock rejects this as a “practical lens for investing,” focusing instead on whether corporate revenues can justify the capital expenditure.

They believe a “growth breakout” is possible, stating that “AI’s self-reinforcing innovation loop could break the U.S. out of its 2% growth trend” established over the last 150 years.

Economically, they see a favorable backdrop with continued Federal Reserve easing. Recent inflation data has “reinforced our view that the Federal Reserve is on track to cut interest rates,” supporting their optimism. However, they note that the divergence between immediate spending and future revenues creates a “financing hump,” making greater private sector leverage inevitable.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here's what investors will be keeping an eye on Wednesday;

• The delayed third-quarter employment cost index report will be out by 8:30 a.m., and the FOMC’s interest rate decision, along with November’s monthly U.S. federal budget, will be released by 2:00 p.m. ET.
• Fed Chair Powell will address a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Commodities, Gold, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.19% to hover around $58.36 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.31% to hover around $4,195.46 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,381.6 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.08% lower at the 99.1410 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 2.48% higher at $92,555.93 per coin.

Asian markets closed lower on Wednesday, except Hong Kong's Hang Seng index. China’s CSI 300, South Korea's Kospi, India’s NIFTY 50, Japan's Nikkei 225, and Australia's ASX 200 indices fell. European markets were mixed in early trade.

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