Traders work the floor during morning trading at the New York Stock Exchange ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision on lending rates, in New York on Jan. 31, 2024.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
S&P 500 futures rose Wednesday night following a dismal day for the major averages after the Federal Reserve held steady on rates but signaled that a March cut is unlikely.
Futures linked to the broad-market index and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.18% and 0.37%, respectively. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were higher by 27 points, or 0.07%.
In extended trading, Qualcomm shares inched down even after the chipmaker reported fiscal first-quarter results that topped earnings and revenue estimates, citing strength in handset chips sales.
Wall Street is coming off a poor session for the major averages. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 317 points, or 0.8%, posting its worst day since December. The S&P 500 slid 1.6% in its worst day since September. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2.2%, its worst session since October.
Those losses come after Powell in his post-meeting conference discouraged investor hopes for a rate cut as soon as March, sending equities tumbling.
“I think what he told us today was you haven’t been listening,” Liz Young, head of investment strategy at SoFi, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
“I think he’s been pretty clear from the jump, from the beginning of this hiking cycle, that they would rather stay too high for a little bit too long, than cut too early,” she added. “He has not changed his tune on that. The market continued to try to bully him into a different position. And today, he said, ‘I will not be bullied. We call the shots.'”
Still, the major averages closed out January on a positive note, with each of the major indexes up more than 1% for the month.
On the economic front, investors will turn their attention to weekly jobless claims, the ISM manufacturing index and construction spending reports on Thursday. The January jobs report is set to release Friday.
Merck, Peloton Interactive and Royal Caribbean are reporting their latest results Thursday before the open. Mega-cap tech stocks Amazon, Apple and Meta Platforms report after the close.
