US Futures Point To Cautious Start As Investors Await Fed's Rate Decision: Tesla, Microsoft, Meta Among Stocks In Focus Ahead Of Earnings
U.S. stock futures were mixed on Wednesday ahead of the crucial earnings from key U.S. technology companies and the Federal Reserve’s expected pause on rate cuts. Futures of all benchmark indices were up, except Dow Jones.
Traders will be waiting for cues from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell‘s speech to navigate the markets as President Donald Trump slowly unveils his plans on tariffs, deregulation, and immigration, among other economic developments.
The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.52%, while the two-year yield was at 4.19%. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, there is a 99.5% chance that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged later today.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.40% |
| S&P 500 | 0.09% |
| Dow Jones | -0.04% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.21% |
Both the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ) were trading higher in premarket on Wednesday. SPY was up by 0.11% to $605.19, while QQQ gained 0.45% to $524.22, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From The Last Session
Markets rebound after Monday’s DeepSeek-triggered crash. Nasdaq surged 2%, with Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) reclaiming some ground.
Mixed earnings reports saw General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) beat expectations while Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) fell over 9%.
Economic data showed declining durable goods orders and rising home prices. Tech led the recovery, while utilities and real estate lagged. Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all closed higher.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2.03% | 19,733.59 |
| S&P 500 | 0.92% | 6,067.70 |
| Dow Jones | 0.31% | 44,850.35 |
| Russell 2000 | 0.21% | 2,288.86 |
Insights From Analysts
According to Ed Yardeni and Eric Wallerstein from Yardeni Research, "U.S. stock market quickly confirmed our view that DeepSeek is a positive for the proliferation of AI, which should boost productivity and economic growth, especially in the U.S."
They expect that fourth-quarter earnings will continue to positively surprise the market. The Fed is likely to pause rate cuts due to better-than-expected economic growth, they said.
"The big companies will benefit from increased AI demand and cheaper internal costs. DeepSeek increases our confidence in our technology-driven, productivity-led Roaring 2020s scenario," they added.
Justin Wolfers, who is a professor at the University of Michigan and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Peterson Institute told CNN that the Fed's job is not to surprise people.
"Watching the Fed is going to be a little bit boring for a few months because they're like the rest of us. They're gonna watch and see what happens. With inflation coming back down toward the Fed's target, you would normally expect to see the Fed continuing to bring interest rates back to normal," he said.
Wolfers said that all eyes are on Donald Trump's decision on tariffs and how the Fed will respond to it. According to him, the Fed could view the rise in inflation caused by tariffs as a "blip in inflation," and decide not to react or it could be worried that tariffs may have a real effect on inflation.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will keep an eye on Wednesday:
- On Wednesday, December's data for advanced U.S. trade balance in goods, advanced retail inventories, and advanced wholesale inventories will be released at 8:30 a.m., ET.
- The FOMC interest-rate decision will be out at 2:00 p.m. and Chairman Jerome Powell will address a press conference at 2:30 p.m., ET.
Stocks In Focus:
- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was down 0.49% in the premarket on Wednesday ahead of its earnings to be released after the closing bell. Analysts expect it to report quarterly earnings of 74 cents per share on revenue of $27.13 billion.
- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was down 0.16% as Wall Street expects it to report earnings of $3.12 per share on revenue of $68.80 billion, after the closing bell.
- Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) was up 0.68% in the premarket ahead of its earnings to be released after the closing bell. Analysts expect it to report quarterly earnings of $6.77 per share on revenue of $46.99 billion.
- ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ:ASML) was up 7.07% after its revenue and earnings per share beat analyst estimates.
- Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) was down 0.39% despite posting better-than-expected first-quarter financial results. However, the company suspended its guidance for fiscal year 2025 last quarter, citing the company's "CEO transition coupled with the current state of the business."
- Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) was down 1.30% after it reported better-than-expected earnings results but announced the retirement of its CFO Glenn Boehnlein.
- 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SXTP) was up 81.63% as it received IRB approval of Phase II study to examine tafenoquine for chronic babesiosis.
- Silexion Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ:SLXN) was up 37.04% after reporting new preclinical data on Tuesday for SIL-204, showing significant tumor reduction in pancreatic cancer models.
- Banzai International Inc (NASDAQ:BNZI) was up 12.80% following its recent announcement of the acquisition of Act-On Software.
- Manhattan Associates Inc (NASDAQ:MANH) was down 24.77% following soft FY25 guidance.
Commodities, Gold And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.99% to hover around $73.04 per barrel.
The gold spot index was down by 0.22% to $2,757.49 per ounce. The Dollar Index was up 0.22% at 108.105 level.
Asian markets were mostly higher on Wednesday except China's CSI 300 index. Australia's ASX 200, Japan's Nikkei 225, South Korea's Kospi, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, and India's S&P BSE Sensex rose. European markets were also higher in trade.
Read Next:
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock