U.S. index futures are trading slightly higher in pre-market on Monday, amidst anticipation of the Fed’s decision on interest rates and Jerome Powell’s press conference, along with consumer inflation data for May.
At 6:40 AM, Dow Jones (DOWI:DJI) futures rose 27 points, or 0.07%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.12%, and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.14%. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.402%.
In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude for July rose 1.19%, to $78.83 per barrel. Brent crude for August rose 1.03%, near $82.76 per barrel. The EIA raised its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 to 1.10 million barrels per day (bpd), compared to the previous estimate of 900,000 bpd. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintained its forecast for robust growth in global oil demand for 2024, citing expectations of increased travel and tourism in the second half of the year.
Iron ore traded on the Dalian Exchange fell 0.92%, to $111.77 per metric ton.
On Wednesday’s economic agenda, the reading of the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be published at 8:30 AM by the Department of Labor. At 10:30 AM, the Department of Energy (DoE) will release the oil inventory position as of last Friday. The monetary policy decision will be announced at 2:00 PM by the Federal Reserve, followed by a press conference by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 2:30 PM to detail the decision.
European markets are trading higher, awaiting the U.S. interest rate decision. Additionally, data showed that the UK economic growth remained stable in April, with construction sector output falling for the third consecutive month. The monthly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reading met expectations but was lower than the 0.4% expansion recorded in March.
Asian markets closed Wednesday without a clear direction, reflecting the reaction to Chinese inflation data and the anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. China’s Shanghai SE rose 0.31%, South Korea’s Kospi increased 0.84%, while Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.66% and 1.31%, respectively. In Australia, the ASX 200 fell 0.51%.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index led the gains, rising 1.18% and hitting a record high of 22,048.96 points. This was driven by shares of major companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (NYSE:TSM) and Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) (USOTC:FXCOF), which advanced 2.94% and 3.88%, respectively, due to enthusiasm around Apple’s new artificial intelligence features.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones fell 120.62 points, closing at 38.747,42, a drop of 0.31%. In contrast, the S&P 500 advanced 14.53 points, or 0.27%, ending the day at 5.375,32. The Nasdaq Composite, boosted by a 7.3% jump in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) (BOV) shares, rose 151.07 points, or 0.88%, to close at 17.343,55 points.
Affimed (NASDAQ:AFMD), Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA), and others are scheduled to report quarterly earnings before the market opens.
After the close, results from Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), Dave & Buster’s (NASDAQ:PLAY), Torrid (NYSE:CURV), Oxford (NYSE:OXM), and more are expected.