(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday after falling in the latest session as investors turned their attention to comments from Federal Reserve officials to gauge the direction of the central bank’s policy in a week dampened by the holidays.
The Dow Jones and U.S. indexes recorded their third straight decline on Tuesday as stocks struggled to maintain upward momentum and most large-cap companies came under pressure.
Investors are eagerly awaiting comments from Fed Chairman Christopher Waller, who will speak at the Economic Club of New York later in the day.
“Waller is generally seen as a hawk, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to the latest data releases,” said Francesco Pesole, currency strategist at ING.
“On Fed pricing, we doubt expectations for the June meeting will change much this week unless we see a surprise in Friday’s PCE (personal consumption expenditures).”
The PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, will be released on Friday when US markets remain closed on Good Friday.
PCE is expected to rise 0.4% in February and 2.5% year over year. Economists polled by Reuters estimate core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy components, rose 0.3% last month, keeping the annual rate at 2.8%.
An unexpected rise in inflation could potentially dampen market enthusiasm for an early rate cut.
According to CME’s FedWatch tool, traders see at least a 70% chance that the Fed will begin a rate easing cycle in June.
All three major U.S. stock indexes are on track for quarterly gains as artificial intelligence-fueled growth helped Wall Street hit record highs recently, while optimism about the Fed cutting borrowing costs later in the year also fueled gains.
At 5:15 a.m. ET, they were up 136 points, or 0.34%, up 18 points, or 0.34%, and up 69 points, or 0.37%.
Most mega-cap growth stocks were up before the bell, with Tesla (NASDAQ:) among the top gainers (+1.2%) and AI giant Nvidia (NASDAQ:) up 1.0% after falling more than 2% last year. sessions.
Merck & Co shares rose 4.9% after the US Food and Drug Administration approved its therapy for adults with high blood pressure due to narrowing of the pulmonary arteries.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group jumped 12.0% a day after its stellar debut on the Nasdaq.
Robinhood (NASDAQ:) markets rose 6.5% after the online trading app launched a new credit card.
GameStop (NYSE:) shares fell 15.3% after the video game retailer reported lower fourth-quarter revenue and said it cut an unspecified number of jobs to cut costs.