S&P 500 futures fell Tuesday night as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy decision.
Futures tied to the broad market index fell 0.26%, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell about 0.5%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 11 points, or 0.03%.
In extended trading, Amazon advanced more than 2% after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices fell about 8% after releasing its implied revenue forecast for the current quarter, while Super Micro Computer fell 13% as revenue came in slightly below the Street consensus estimate.
During Tuesday’s main trading session, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 fell more than 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 2%. Bond yields jumped after the first-quarter employment cost index came in higher than expected, raising concerns that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high.
The month ended poorly for all three major indices, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting losses of more than 4% in April. The Dow Jones fell 5% in its worst monthly performance since September 2022.
Traders are now looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday afternoon. With the central bank widely expected to keep rates steady, according to Fed funds futures pricing data, Wall Street will be looking for clues from Fed Chair Powell on what needs to happen before rates are cut.
“The concern is that the Fed will definitely be slower to cut rates,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “They recognize that inflation is still fairly flat. I think they just want to take a wait-and-see approach and wait for inflation numbers to start coming down again.”
