Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange on July 22, 2024.
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images
Stock index futures rose on Wednesday as investors parsed the latest earnings report and braced for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 145 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures rose 1% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.5%.
Advanced Micro Devices Second-quarter results exceeded consensus market expectations, and the stock price rose more than 8%. Artificial intelligence darling Nvidia AMD’s report pushed the company’s stock price up more than 5%. Microsoft Meanwhile, the company’s shares fell more than 2% as its cloud business disappointed Wall Street.
Boeing will report earnings before the bell on Wednesday, while Kavanagh and Qualcomm will report after the close.
The Fed decided
The Federal Reserve is scheduled to conclude its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
The central bank is expected to keep interest rates steady, but focus will be on Chairman Powell and whether he provides any indication Cuts may be coming.
“Investors expect the Fed to cut interest rates in September, sending a strong signal,” said Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at Sit Investment Associates. “But it will be difficult for the Fed to be overly optimistic about future rate cuts.” Confidence, because it begs the question, ‘Why not cut rates now? ‘ So investors may be disappointed with the tone and attitude of the Fed meeting.
Wall Street is also wrapping up a tumultuous month of trading. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are expected to end July down 0.4% and 3.3% respectively.
The Dow and Russell 2000 are expected to end the month up more than 4% and 9%, respectively. This highlights the impact of market rotation on smaller and more cyclical stocks.
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