Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on April 29, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images
S&P 500 futures slipped Tuesday night as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s rate policy decision.
Futures linked to the broad market index slipped 0.26%, while Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.50%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked lower by 16 points, or 0.04%.
In after-hours trading, Amazon advanced more than 2% following better-than-expected earnings and revenue in the first quarter. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices tumbled 7.5% after issuing an in-line revenue forecast for the current quarter, while Super Micro Computer slid 11.4% as revenue came in slightly below the Street’s consensus estimates.
During Tuesday’s main trading session, the Dow and S&P 500 both shed more than 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 2%. Bond yields jumped after the first quarter’s employment cost index came in higher than anticipated, reigniting worries that the Fed will keep interest rates high.
The month ended on a sour note for all three major averages, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posting losses of more than 4% in April. The Dow fell 5% for its worst monthly performance since September 2022.
Traders are now looking toward the Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday afternoon. With the central bank widely expected to hold interest rates steady, according to fed funds futures pricing data, Wall Street will be looking for clues from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on what needs to happen before rates can come down.
“The concern is that the Fed will definitely be slower to lower interest rates,” said CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stovall. “They realize that inflation is remaining fairly sticky. I think they want to just take more of a ‘wait and see’ approach, and wait for the inflation numbers to start coming back down again.”
Several notable earnings reports are also scheduled for release Wednesday. Pfizer, Kraft Heinz and CVS Health are reporting their quarterly results before the bell. Qualcomm and DoorDash will report on Wednesday afternoon.
