Stock futures fall Thursday as traders assess Fed rate outlook: Live updates

Stock futures fell Thursday following a losing session on Wall Street, as traders continued to weigh the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 211 points, or 0.6%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures each also fell 0.6%.

JetBlue Airways slipped 1.2% in the premarket after the company announced it would end its partnership in the northeast U.S. with American Airlines to focus on Spirit Airlines. American shares moved 1% lower, while Spirit added 2.9%.

The shortened trading week resumed Wednesday after a break for the Fourth of July holiday. The major indexes logged modest losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 129.83 points, or 0.38%, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.2%. Both indexes snapped three-day win streaks. The Nasdaq Composite finished 0.18% lower.

Wall Street also combed through minutes from June’s Federal Reserve policy meeting, where members opted to skip a hike. The latest findings showed that most officials would support more increases ahead.

Traders are pricing in a nearly 89% chance of a hike at the central bank’s meeting this month, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

“Fed chair Powell has made it clear that he is absolutely committed to seeing this 2% target reached, and so, I think it pretty much means that it’s a when, not an if, as far as additional hikes are concerned later this year,” CIC Wealth’s Malcolm Ethridge said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”

He said he expects two more hikes from the Fed this year, likely in the third quarter. Ethridge, executive vice president at CIC Wealth, also noted that while inflation’s showing signs of cooling it will take time to reach the 2% target.

“No matter which side you fall on, we can all sort of agree that not enough has meaningfully broken to this point that would signal that they’re going to back off of the gas pedal and allow us to coast from here,” he added.

Given this setup, investors aggressively positioned in this market for their time horizon or risk appetite may want to use periods of strength to take profits, he said.

The shortened trading week continues Thursday with a slew of fresh economic data points, including ADP private payrolls data for June and initial jobless claims. A reading of S&P Global services PMI and ISM services PMI are also on deck.