Stock futures advanced Wednesday as investors monitored the latest updates on U.S. trade negotiations and looked toward the Federal Reserve interest rate announcement expected later in the day.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 308 points, or 0.8%. S&P 500 futures popped 0.7%, along with Nasdaq 100 futures.
Futures took a leg up on news that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer would meet with their Chinese counterparts this week in Switzerland. Investors took that as a positive on the trade front after the turbulent market action following President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement last month.
“My sense is that this will be about de-escalation, not about the big trade deal,” Bessent later told Fox News. “But we’ve got to de-escalate, before we can move forward.”
That action comes as investors gear up for the Fed’s interest rate decision slated for 2 p.m. ET. Fed funds futures are pricing in a nearly 97% likelihood that the central bank holds the borrowing rate steady, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Traders will monitor Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-decision press conference for insights on where rates could go moving forward. It comes at a precarious moment for the central bank leader after being the target of criticism from Trump, who has said his “termination cannot come fast enough.” At one point, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said the team would “study” whether Powell could be fired, though Trump later said he has “no intention” of removing the Fed chief.
The Fed meeting also comes as market participants contend with concerns that Trump’s plan for levies could push inflation higher, complicating the central bank’s plan for interest rates.
“If traders wish to believe that the Fed will come to the rescue of the world tomorrow and assuage the recent rise in policy uncertainty and political uncertainty with a signal of overt ‘dovishness’, they should think again,” said Thierry Wizman, global foreign exchange and rates strategist at Macquarie.
Tuesday night’s moves follow a losing day on Wall Street. The Dow lost nearly 390 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slid about 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively.
Novo Nordisk jumps on strong Wegovy guidance
Shares of Novo Nordisk jumped more than 5% after the drugmaker said it sees sales of its Wegovy weight loss medication improving the second half of 2025. “Compounders took a part of our business away,” CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen told CNBC. “We now expect that compounding will be knocked off, so to say, and we get that business growth going forward.”
— Fred Imbert
Volatility to increase again amid continuing uncertainty, says TCW CEO Katie Koch
TCW CEO Katie Koch expects the rockiness to return to the markets as investors continue to digest economic data.
“There will be a lot of uncertainty,” she said in an interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen from the sidelines of Milken Institute Global Conference Tuesday. “This is a process and it’s going to take time. We are going to continue to get a series of conflicting data points.”
“We’ve got a lot of dry powder and we’re excited for the opportunity to lean in when that happens,” she added.
The path of the economy can range anywhere from a soft landing to a recession to stagflation, Koch said. At the moment, she said a recession is possible but is too difficult to predict.
In the meantime, selectivity is key across the board, she said. In equities, there are some bottom-up opportunities and in private credit, she sees an opportunity in rescue financing. Still, longer term, Koch still believes in the artificial intelligence revolution and the shortage of energy to support it.
“Do I think there is massive wealth creation opportunities in equity markets by allocating capital to AI and energy? 100%,” Koch said. “I just think in the near term we’ve got a lot of volatility that we’ll have to weave through.”
— Michelle Fox
Stock futures rise on announcement of U.S.-China trade talks
Stock futures rallied after U.S. government spokespeople said that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer would meet with their Chinese counterparts this week in Switzerland.
Investors can take this as an indicator of forthcoming developments on trade negotiations after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement last month ratcheted up volatility in the market.
— Alex Harring, Kevin Breuninger
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
These are some of the stocks making the biggest moves in extended trading:
Super Micro Computer — Shares slid about 5% after the server maker missed expectations for the third fiscal quarter and gave a weak outlook for the current three-month period. Super Micro reported earnings 31 cents per share, excluding items, and $4.60 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG called for 50 cents a share and $5.42 billion in revenue.Advanced Micro Devices — The chipmaker surged nearly 4% on the back of a stronger-than-predicted earnings report for the first quarter. AMD reported earnings of 96 per share, excluding items, on revenues of $7.44 billion, while analysts had projected 94 cents per share and $7.13 billion.Wynn Resorts – Shares of the casino operator fell 2% on weak first-quarter earnings. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.07 per share on revenue of $1.70 billion, missing the LSEG consensus estimates for $1.19 per share in earnings and $1.74 billion in revenue.See the full list here.
— Alex Harring
Stock futures are down
Stock futures ticked lower shortly after 6 p.m. ET.
Dow and S&P 500 futures each fell 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 futures pulled back 0.3%.
— Alex Harring
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