Stock index futures rose late Wednesday as investors looked ahead to more corporate earnings on Thursday and key labor data later in the week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures An increase of 65 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 Index Futures up 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 Futures increased by 0.3%.
In after-hours trading, chipmakers Qualcomm The company’s shares rose more than 3% on better-than-expected adjusted earnings and strong revenue guidance.Restaurant food delivery service door panel The company’s shares fell more than 15% after reporting a loss per share that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
The moves came after a tumultuous day on Wall Street as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates on hold. In the closely watched news conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell largely ruled out the central bank’s next steps, even though there have been few recent signs that inflation has eased.
All three major stock indexes were up more than 1% at intraday highs, but cooled sharply at the end of Wednesday’s volatile session. The Dow Jones closed about 0.2% higher, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed down about 0.3%.
Eric Winograd, director of developed market economics research at Bernstein, said Powell’s emphasis that the central bank’s next move may not be to raise interest rates “should calm financial markets.” Still, uncertainty remains about when the Fed might actually start lowering borrowing costs, which has been a top concern among traders.
“‘Longer higher’ is the Fed’s mantra,” Winograd said. “Unless something significant changes, we are past the ‘higher’ phase and into the ‘longer’ phase.”
Investors will focus on economic data on Thursday, including weekly jobless claims, first-quarter worker productivity and unit labor costs, as well as March trade deficit and factory orders data. The data comes ahead of Friday’s closely watched April jobs report.
Thursday’s quarterly earnings report focused on apple and Amgen After closing, next to Coin library and draft king. Before the market opens, modern and Peloton Both plan to publish results.
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