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Wall Street snapped its three-day losing streak on Wednesday boosted by strong gains in energy stocks but closed the session off intraday highs as markets remained cautious on how the Fed plans to curb inflation amid rising concerns around slowing global growth.
Chair Jerome Powell’s speech due on Friday will be scrutinized for any indication that an economic slowdown might alter the Fed’s strategy and if the central bank can achieve a “soft landing” for the economy.
Traders are seeing a slightly greater chance of a third 75 basis-point hike from the Fed at its policy meeting next month, compared to a smaller 50 basis-point rate hike. [FEDWATCH]
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he has not decided if the central bank should increase interest rates by 50 bps or 75 bps in September, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Investors will also be looking for details on the Fed’s plans to reduce its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet, a process that started in June.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield retreated after hitting its highest level since mid-June in the previous session, supporting rate-sensitive high-growth and technology stocks such as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) in trading before the bell.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc rose 1.7% after its 3-for-1 stock split came into effect.
Meanwhile, oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) rose 0.4% each, as crude prices extended their rally on mounting supply tightness concerns.
At 6:54 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 99 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 22.5 points, or 0.54%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 94.75 points, or 0.73%.
Investors also focused on a slew of economic data later in the day including the central bank’s favored inflation gauge, the PCE price index, weekly jobless claims figures and the second estimate of second-quarter GDP.
Helped by better-than-feared results from corporate America, the S&P 500 has recovered about 13% from its bear market lows.
The benchmark index is set to end the year a little above its current level, according to strategists recently polled by Reuters.
Graphics chip designer Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) Corp fell 3.3% after it forecast a sharp drop in revenue for the current quarter on the back of a weaker gaming industry.
Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Inc slid 6.3% as it cut its annual revenue and profit forecasts over “measured” spending from clients and a hit from a stronger dollar.
