Stock futures tick higher as traders await Fed decision: Live updates

U.S. stock futures ticked higher Tuesday night as investors await the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 42 points, or 0.11%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.11% and 0.18%, respectively.

Investors are coming off a fourth straight positive session for the major averages. During the regular session Tuesday, the S&P 500 gained 0.46% and the 30-stock Dow added 0.48%. Both indexes hit their highest intraday levels since January 2022. The Nasdaq Composite, which reached its highest level since April 2022, closed with a 0.7% jump.

Those gains come as traders brace for the conclusion of the final Fed meeting of 2023. The central bank is widely anticipated to hold the benchmark overnight borrowing rate steady in the 5.25% to 5.5% range, but investors will also parse through Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s commentary for clues into how soon rate cuts can be expected. As it is, the CME FedWatch Tool shows markets are pricing in odds of rate cuts beginning next spring.

But that’s a scenario Powell may choose to push back on, especially as yields come off their highs and do less of the Fed’s work to cool the economy. The 10-year Treasury yield last hovered around 4.2%, despite topping 5% in October.

“He may hint that’s doing some of the prospective easing,” Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday.

“That’s, to me, what I’m going to be focused on, is whether he sort of does the opposite of what he did when he said that the move up in yields had done some of the tightening for the Fed,” Sonders added.

Investors will also keep an eye on the November producer price index, set for release 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday ahead of the Fed decision. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a rise of 0.1%, up from a 0.5% decline the prior month. Excluding food and energy, it’s anticipated to have risen 0.2%, up from a flat reading the previous month.