US stock futures climbed on Wednesday as investors braced for a wave of Big Tech earnings and the outcome of a closely watched Federal Reserve meeting that could mark the final one led by Chair Jerome Powell.
S&P 500 futures (ES=F) edged up 0.2%, while those on the Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) gained 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose roughly 0.2%, after stocks on Wall Street pulled back from record highs on Tuesday.
Technology stocks led that decline following a report by The Wall Street Journal that OpenAI missed internal targets for revenue and user growth. Shares in its partner Oracle (ORCL) fell 4%, while chipmakers Broadcom (AVGO) and Nvidia (NVDA) dropped 4% and more than 1%, respectively.
That puts the spotlight on Wednesday’s earnings from four members of the “Magnificent Seven”: Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META) and Microsoft (MSFT), all set to report after Wednesday’s close. Investors are looking for evidence that the tech megacaps’ heavy spending on AI is translating into meaningful revenue growth.
Markets are also focused on the conclusion of the Fed’s April policy meeting. While no change to interest rates is expected, the meeting could be Powell’s final before his term ends in May.
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Digital storage companies saw stock prices surge after-hours on AI demand
Reuters reports:
Shares of storage companies jumped in extended trading on Tuesday, after strong revenue and profit forecasts from Seagate Technology (STX) signaled that spending by enterprises on artificial intelligence equipment will remain strong.
Seagate’s strong forecast and the late-day surge in storage stocks underscore investors’ confidence that enterprise AI spending will sustain demand for data-storage equipment despite broader market concerns about the pace of AI adoption.
Companies have funneled increasing amounts of money into data drives, hard disks and other digital storage as they rushed to upgrade their artificial intelligence models and infrastructure.
Shares of Seagate soared 16% in extended trading, while Western Digital (WDC) jumped 10%, Micron Technology (MU) climbed 3% and SanDisk (SNDK) rose 4%, adding a combined $60 billion to the four storage technology companies’ market value.
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Gold holds after two-day fall with Hormuz closure pushing inflation fears
Bloomberg reports:
Gold (GC=F) steadied after a two-day drop as investor focus remained on talks between the US and Iran, with the indefinite closure of the Strait of Hormuz continuing to heighten inflation risks.
Bullion was near $4,590 an ounce, after falling 2.4% over the previous two sessions to the lowest in almost four weeks. President Donald Trump said Iran has asked the US to lift a naval blockade of Hormuz while the two sides negotiate an end to the two-month war, which has upended global energy supplies. Mediators in Pakistan expect Tehran will submit a revised proposal in the next few days, CNN reported.
Traders are also keeping tabs on interest-rate decisions in the US, the European Union, the UK and Canada in coming days. On Tuesday, the Bank of Japan left its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.75%, with a split vote suggesting increased odds of a hike in June.
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