FX.co ★ US Futures Steady Ahead of Fed Minutes

US equity futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors awaited the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting for clearer signals on the future path of interest rates. Attention is also turning to Friday’s release of the PCE Price Index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.

In Tuesday’s regular session, the Dow inched up 0.07%, the S&P 500 gained 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.14%, with Wall Street logging only modest gains amid ongoing concerns around the AI trade. Financials outperformed, supported by JPMorgan Chase (+1.5%) and Citigroup (+2.7%), after Fed Governor Michael Barr suggested policy may need to remain restrictive for an extended period, bolstering expectations for resilient net interest margins.

Among mega-cap technology names, selective positioning in leading AI beneficiaries underpinned gains in Nvidia (+1.2%), Apple (+3.2%), and Broadcom (+2.3%). By contrast, investors continued to rotate out of higher-valuation software names, with Salesforce down 2.9%, Intuit off 5.1%, and Oracle lower by 3.8%.