(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures largely held steady on Wednesday, as investors geared up for key economic data, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision and earnings from Wall Street’s technology giants.
At 05:53 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 3 points, or 0.05%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 26.5 points, or 0.11%, and Dow E-minis were down 9 points, or 0.02%.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapped their record run on Tuesday due to disappointing results from Dow components such as UnitedHealth and Merck.
Investors are now pinning their hopes on results from megacap companies to steer the market to new highs. Microsoft and Meta Platforms will report their results after the market closes, while Amazon and Apple will report on Thursday.
Shares of Starbucks jumped 4.6% in premarket trading after the coffee chain operator reported a higher-than-expected revenue jump in the third quarter.
Global payments processing company Visa fell 2%, despite beating estimates for third-quarter earnings, as it kept its annual net revenue growth forecast unchanged.
Meanwhile, two days of U.S.-China negotiations ended in both sides agreeing to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce, which expires on August 12. U.S. officials said it would be up to President Donald Trump to approve the extension.
South Korea was also lobbying to secure a trade deal ahead of Trump’s August 1 deadline as its officials met U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington.
The European Union on Sunday joined the list of U.S. trading partners that have struck agreements with Washington. Its framework deal with the U.S. halves import duties to 15% for the bloc.
A key highlight for the day will be the Fed’s interest rate decision. With the central bank expected to keep rates unchanged, attention will turn to Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks for clues about future policy moves.
The meeting comes in the wake of Trump’s persistent attacks on Powell for not lowering rates. The central bank has frequently stated its need to assess the impact of tariffs on inflation before cutting borrowing costs.
A deluge of data reports expected later in the day will be crucial for gauging the economy’s health and labor market resilience amid heightened trade uncertainties.
Early reading of Q2 U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is due at 8:30 a.m. A Reuters survey is estimated to forecast GDP likely increased at a 2.4% annualized rate in the second quarter, after declining at a 0.5% pace in the first quarter.
July private payrolls data is also in the day.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
