U.S. stock futures on Wednesday could see further losses as investors look to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's upcoming speech for clues on whether interest rates will remain high for an extended period of time. pointed out.
S&P 500 (^GSPC) futures fell 0.2%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) futures remained almost flat. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) contract led the decline, falling nearly 0.4% after the major index closed in a sea of red.
Stocks have retreated from a strong start to the year as strong economic data dampened hopes for three Fed rate cuts. Investors are scaling back bets to the point where they expect a smaller and slower easing than policymakers expected.
The focus now is on Chairman Powell, whose economic outlook speech later Wednesday will be considered for clues as to whether the June Fed meeting will result in a policy shift. Michael Barr and other Fed officials will also be featured.
The results of the shareholder vote are expected later Wednesday, and all eyes will be on who wins the fierce proxy battle between Disney and activist investor Nelson Peltz. There are signs Disney has secured enough support to avoid the board shakeup proposed by Peltz's Tryon, people told Reuters.
Looking at individual stocks, Intel (INTC) stock fell about 5% in pre-market trading after the chip company posted a significant operating loss in its foundry business.
Meanwhile, rival TSMC (TSM) was forced to halt some chip production after the earthquake that hit Taiwan, raising concerns about its suppliers to Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA). The company's US-listed shares fell slightly.
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