Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 17, 2024.
NYSE
U.S. stock futures were little changed on Tuesday night as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s December interest rate decision.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 57 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures added less than 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures inched lower by less than 0.1%.
The Dow slipped 267.58 points, or 0.61%, during the regular session for a nine-day losing streak, its longest since 1978. The S&P 500 slipped 0.39%, while tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.32%.
These losses come before the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy decision, which is due out on Wednesday afternoon. Fed funds futures trading currently shows a 95% chance that the central bank will cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Investors will also be paying close attention to Fed policymakers’ Summary of Economic Projections and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference, seeking clues about what might happen in the months ahead. The central bank is widely expected to temper runaway expectations of more rate cuts in the approaching year, particularly as inflation remains stubborn.
“I think we’ll get a cut tomorrow, but I think the language and the tenor will probably be as hawkish as we’ve seen from Powell in a while,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird. “While they’re not going to act on policy that hasn’t yet been made, I think that they will be a little hesitant to commit to, say, four-plus rate cuts in 2025 when there’s so much unsettled.”
In turn, hawkish commentary on Wednesday could tee up stocks for a selloff. But Mayfield added he was optimistic that volatility around Fed meetings usually doesn’t linger for very long.
“We’ve seen some big moves on days where the Fed has announced a policy change and how it spoke — and these were either reversed later on, or gains were given back or losses cut later on. So I’m not overly worried about what happens in the immediate aftermath tomorrow,” he added.
Before Wednesday’s bell, General Mills, Birkenstock and Jabil are due to report their latest earnings. Results from Micron Technology and Lennar are due in the afternoon.
