Investing.com — U.S. stock index futures rose in evening trading Sunday as attention turned to the Federal Reserve’s next meeting for further clues on interest rate cuts.
Attention was also on a series of upcoming fourth-quarter earnings reports from Wall Street giants such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:).
Wall Street stock indexes rebounded sharply on Friday after June data on the PCE price index, the Fed’s go-to inflation gauge, came in roughly within expectations, raising optimism that the central bank will start cutting interest rates in September.
As of 19:40 ET (00:40 GMT), it was up 0.2% to 5,512.0 points and 0.4% to 19,244.50 points. It was up 0.2% to 40,931.0 points.
Clarification on interest rate cuts expected at Federal Reserve meeting
The Fed is widely expected to conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
But with growing signs that inflation has slowed in recent months, signals as to when the central bank plans to start cutting rates will be closely watched.
In recent speeches, many Fed officials have also said the central bank is feeling more confident in its fight against inflation and that it doesn’t need inflation to hit its 2 percent annual target before it will begin cutting interest rates.
The general consensus is that the Fed will keep rates on hold this week but could signal a cut in September, with traders apparently expecting the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points in September.
Apple and Microsoft set to report earnings
Several major Wall Street companies are scheduled to report earnings this week, with Microsoft and Apple due to report on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
Other major tech companies, including Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:), are also scheduled to report earnings this week.
The results come after a long sell-off in technology stocks, which have been hit hard by profit-taking and expectations of interest rate cuts as investors shifted money to more cyclical sectors.
Disappointing earnings from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:) last week also contributed to increased caution ahead of tech companies’ earnings reports, as investors wait to see whether increased spending on artificial intelligence will pay off.
The rose 1.1% to 5,459.10 points on Friday, after climbing 1% to 17,357.88 points on Friday. The surged 1.6% to 40,589.34 points.
