US pre-open: Futures little changed ahead of Powell speech

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were flat ahead of the bell on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to potentially market-moving comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.01%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.02% and 0.09% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 56.74 points higher on Tuesday, reversing earlier losses and extending its recent positive run for another session, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq chalked up their longest winning streak since November 2021.

Wednesday's primary focus will be on a speech from Fed head Jerome Powell at 1415 GMT, with the comments coming hot on the heels of the central bank's decision to leave interest rates unchanged at its last meeting.

Scope Markets' Joshua Mahony said: "US equities look set for an indecisive start to proceedings, with all eyes firmly placed on the S&P 500 after an impressive run of seven consecutive daily gains. Increased hope that the Federal Reserve has finally reached its terminal interest rate has seen pricing for a final hike in the coming months drop down to just 15% (in January).

"Markets are instead shifting their focus towards the timing around a rate cut next year, with the CME Fedwatch pricing in a 20% possibility that rates will fall as early as March. Nonetheless, risks remain prevalent, and as long as bond yields remain elevated there is an incentive to allocate a greater amount of capital in the fixed income space."

Elsewhere, on the macro front, the Mortgage Bankers Association's mortgage applications report will be out at 1200 GMT, while monthly wholesale inventories data will follow at 1500 GMT.

In the corporate space, Array Technologies tumbled 11.8% after the solar tracker company issued some weak full-year guidance for earnings and revenue, while Spirit AeroSystems lost 14% on the back of it revealed its intention to raise capital through stock and note offerings.

MGM Resorts, Walt Disney, and Take-Two Interactive will all report earnings after the close.







Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com