- 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