HONG KONG-LISTED MAINLAND PROPERTY STOCKS EDGE HIGHER, WITH CHINA RESOURCES LAND AND SUNAC CHINA UP OVER 3%, COUNTRY GARDEN, VANKE, LONGFOR, CHINA JINMAO AND YUEXIU PROPERTY ALSO RISING

- S&P 500 futures were relatively unchanged on Wednesday, while oil prices continued their rally amid a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. - Traders also awaited the conclusion of what could be Jerome Powell’s final policy meeting as Federal Reserve chair as well as quarterly earnings from four of the “Magnificent Seven.” - In what could be Jerome Powell’s final meeting as Federal Reserve chair, he is expected to lead his fellow policymakers toward another cautious pause, with stubborn inflation and a resilient labor market leaving little room yet for interest rate cuts. - Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft — set to report quarterly earnings after the close, hovering over their results is a single company that doesn’t even release its financials to the public: OpenAI. - Asia-Pacific markets closed mixed Wednesday, after Wall Street declined overnight as investors assess the latest developments concerning OPEC, as well as a report that pointed to weakness in OpenAI. - July wheat futures climbed to a high of $6.595 a bushel Tuesday, the highest since June 2024 - US housing starts rose 10.8% in March to a 1.5 million annualized pace, the highest in over a year

US FEB. S&P COTALITY CS 20-CITY INDEX RISES 0.9% Y/Y