(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen in the previous session, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement later this afternoon.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 100 percent chance the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged for the third straight meeting.
With the Fed's decision a near-certainty, traders are likely to pay closer attention to the central bank's accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.
However, as the Fed is unlikely to provide specific details about future rate decisions, traders may shift their focus to key earnings news from big-name tech companies.
Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results after the close of today's trading.
With the tech giants part of the so-called "Magnificent Seven," their results could have a significant impact on the markets amid resurfacing concerns about AI spending.
Meanwhile, traders seem to have shrugged off another surge by the price of crude oil, even as U.S. crude oil futures spike above $100 a barrel following President Donald Trump's latest threats against Iran.
"Iran can't get their act together. They don't know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social along with a picture showing him holding a rifle and the words "No more Mr. Nice Guy!"
After ending Monday's choppy session narrowly mixed, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. The major averages all moved to the downside on the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a notable slump.
The major averages ended the day off their lows of the session but still in negative territory. The Nasdaq slid 223.30 points or 0.9 percent to 24,663.80, the S&P 500 fell 35.11 points or 0.5 percent to 7,138.90 and the Dow edged down 25.86 points or 0.1 percent to 49,141.93.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Wednesday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.7 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile most European stocks have moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are $4.17 to $104.10 a barrel after spiking $3.56 to $99.93 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $4,570.30, down $38.10 compared to the previous session's close of $4,608.40. On Tuesday, gold tumbled $85.30.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 159.93 yen compared to the 159.61 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1699 compared to yesterday's $1.1711.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
