By Peter Nurse
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are seen opening largely unchanged Wednesday, as investors cautiously await the latest signal from the Federal Reserve on future monetary policy.
At 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was down 30 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded flat, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 20 points, or 0.2%.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to announce another interest rate increase of 75 basis points at the conclusion of its two-day policy-setting meeting later Wednesday, the fourth such rise in a row, given its ongoing attempts to curb red-hot inflation.
The real question is what the Fed is thinking about doing next, with recent stock market gains largely based on optimism that Chair Jerome Powell will talk about easing off on such aggressively large rate increases, perhaps as early as December.
That thinking has been encouraged by recent suggestions from Fed officials of a potential slowdown in the tightening pace.
That said, Tuesday’s jobs openings data pointed to a still very tight labor market while core inflation remains sticky, suggesting the rapid interest rate increases have yet to bite hard in the real economy.
The ADP employment report, due at 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT), will provide another update of the employment market, ahead of Friday’s official jobs report for October.
There are more earnings to digest Wednesday, with CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) in the spotlight after the healthcare company raised its full-year profit forecast, following strong performance at its health insurance and pharmacy benefit management businesses in the third quarter.
Further numbers are due from the likes of health insurer Humana (NYSE:HUM), semiconductor Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), fast food company Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM), and media giant Paramount (NYSE:PGRE).
Additionally, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) stock traded higher premarket after it forecast some strength in its data center business, while Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) stock fell sharply premarket after the vacation rental company warned that bookings would moderate.
Oil prices fell Wednesday, overturning earlier gains after Chinese authorities locked down the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone - home to the world’s biggest iPhone assembly plant – for a week due to a COVID outbreak, reigniting fears that economic activity at the world’s largest crude importer will be comprised by its rigid COVID policy.
The crude market had previously seen gains after a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories suggested demand remained strong in the world’s largest crude consumer.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that U.S. crude stockpiles fell by a hefty 6.5 million barrels last week, an eye-opener after the prior week’s build of 4.5 million barrels.
Official data from the Energy Information Administration is due later in the session for confirmation.
By 07:00 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.2% lower at $88.17 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.2% to $94.44.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,657.80/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 0.9898.