Wall Street is poised for modest gains as the new month and Fed quantitative tightening kick off
U.S. stock index futures were mostly higher on Wednesday as a new month of trading kicked off, as well as the start of the Federal Reserve‘s drawdown of its $9 trillion balance sheet.
How are stock index futures traded?
-
S&P 500 ES00 futures contracts,
+0.11%
increased by 0.2% to 4,140.25 -
Futures contracts Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00,
+0.39%
rose 155 points, or 0.4%, to 33,127 -
Nasdaq-100 NQ00 futures,
-0.10%
were stable at 12,646
On Tuesday, Dow DJIA industrialists,
fell 222.84 points, or 0.7%, to close at 32,990.12, ending six straight winning streaks. The S&P 500 SPX,
fell 0.6% to 4,132.15, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP,
ended down 0.4% at 12,081.39 as both indices recorded three consecutive days of gains.
What is driving the market?
Investors are waiting to see if last week’s rebound for stocks holds, with Tuesday’s losses coming amid rising Treasury yields and oil prices. The 10-year Treasury yield TMUBMUSD10Y,
rating rose 3 basis points to 2.874% on Wednesday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
US Crude Oil Price CL.1,
gained another 1.5% and the international benchmark Brent BRN00,
rose 1.7% on Wednesday. Oil prices rose on Tuesday after the EU imposed new sanctions on Russian crude, but prices then retreated after the Wall Street Journal reported that some OPEC members were considering suspending Russia from targets. oil production.
U.S. economic data will be in focus on Wednesday with a May update on the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index scheduled for 10 a.m. ET as well as the final S&P Global reading of its Purchasing Managers’ Index for the manufacturing sector.
“Equity market pressure could pick up, somewhat ironically, if US data from Friday’s May jobs report and May’s ISM services suggest that US growth is turning around at a solid pace, pushing US yields back towards the peaks of the cycle,” he added. said a team of Saxo Bank strategists, in a note to clients.
Additionally, investors will be keeping an eye on the liquidity impact of the Fed’s massive balance sheet shrink, which begins Wednesday and is in part intended to help combat high inflation.
“Uncertainty over the impacts of the Fed QT which kicks off today and ramps up over the next three months at a rate of $95 billion a month could also prove to be a factor weighing on sentiment,” they added. Saxo Bank strategists.
Lily: Fed quantitative tightening is on the way: what it could mean for markets
Elsewhere, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told MarketWatch in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that any September “pause” in the central bank’s efforts to raise interest rates should not be construed as a “Fed put”, or a sign that the central bank will come to the rescue of the markets.
On Monday, Fed Governor Christopher Waller pushed back on the idea of a September pause, saying he favored half-point rate hikes in the next “several meetings.”
Ahead of Wednesday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. Eastern, and the Fed’s Beige Book of economic conditions will be released at 2 p.m. East.