Stock futures slip as investors prepare for Fed meeting

Stock futures fell slightly Tuesday as investors prepared for the Federal Reserve’s May policy meeting to kick off.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back by 74 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures traded 0.2% lower as well, and Nasdaq-100 futures fell marginally.

The Fed’s two-day policy meeting is expected to conclude with the central bank announcing another 25 basis-point rate hike. Per the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, traders are pricing in 97% chance of a rate hike. Investors will be looking for clues on whether the Fed will keep rates steady after this meeting, or if it will further tighten monetary policy to fight inflation.

“We think it will be the last rate hike of this tightening cycle,” wrote Joe Kalish, chief global macro strategist at Ned Davis Research. “The Fed, however, will want to preserve its optionality — just in case the economic data doesn’t come in as expected before the next FOMC meeting on June 13-14.

The moves follow modest declines in the Monday’s session. The Dow and Nasdaq Composite both lost about 0.1%, while the S&P 500 finished just slightly below its flatline.

Investors were focused on the bank sector following the announcement that JPMorgan Chase won the weekend auction for troubled First Republic Bank. As part of the agreement, JPMorgan acquired all of the regional bank’s deposits and a “substantial majority of assets.” CEO Jamie Dimon said to deal should help end part of the industry crisis, which was initially prompted by the closure of Silicon Valley Bank in March.

Weighing on sentiment was word from Treasury that the country may hit the debt ceiling sooner than expected. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the U.S. may run out of measures to pay its debts as early as 1 June, earlier than the late July deadline Goldman was estimating.

Wall Street will also will watch for data on job openings, factory orders and light vehicle sales on the economic front. Uber, Pfizer and Molson Coors are among companies set to report earnings before the bell, followed by Ford, Starbucks, Advanced Mico Devices and Caesars Entertaiment after the market closes.

Source: CNBC