US pre-open: Stocks to edge down ahead of Fed announcement

(Sharecast News) - US stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve and more earnings releases. At 1050 BST, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq futures were both down 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures were off 0.1%.

Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, said: "Wall Street futures suggest we'll see little change at Wednesday's open with traders keenly waiting for that FOMC rate decision and the subsequent press conference. Whilst yesterday's earnings news was something of a mixed bag, the unifying factor was the scale of the market reaction on these mega-cap stocks - Alphabet added 6%, Microsoft lost 4% - a theme which we already observed last week and arguably should continue to brace for given the heady valuations being applied. Microsoft may well feel hard done by, with outperformance on both earnings and revenues overlooked as traders focused on slowing growth in the Azure business.

"Nonetheless, the continued growth of the bottom line for big tech does at least provide a reason for optimism once the dust has settled. Corporate news for the day ahead will be dominated by Meta reporting after the close, whilst Boeing, Coca-Cola and AT&T are amongst highlights due before the bell."

Mahony said markets are pricing a 98% chance that Powell & co will raise rates by another 25 basis points later.

"With inflation at 3%, the focus for today is more geared toward future expectations. The June dot plot mapped out another 50-basis points of upside by year-end, signalling the potential for another hike beyond today," he said.

In corporate news, PacWest surged more than 30% in pre-market trade after it agreed to merge with Banc of California.

Elsewhere, Amazon was likely to be in focus following a report the Federal Trade Commission is finalising an antitrust lawsuit against the company.