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U.S. equity futures were mixed in early Wednesday trading, with tech stocks taking a beating after a trio of earnings highlighted the challenges of AI rollouts last night, and as investors braced for a key interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve later in the session.
A blizzard of Big Tech and blue-chip stock headlines after the close of trading on Tuesday are likely to swamp investors and markets today as Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Free Report and Alphabet (GOOGL) – Get Free Report slump following a mixed set of fourth-quarter earnings from the Magnificent 7 peers that underscored the costs tied to advancing AI technologies.
At the same time, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) – Get Free Report also tumbled after it posted a muted near-term revenue forecast after chipmaker noted an uneven demand landscape for its new AI chips, designed to challenge the market dominance of larger rival Nvidia (NVDA) – Get Free Report.
Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report shares as well are moving lower after a Delaware court ruled in favor of a group of shareholders, who had argued that CEO Elon Musk’s $50-billion-plus pay package, agreed in 2018, was unfairly arranged and against the carmaker’s broader interests.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak to the media after the central bank’s first interest rate decision of the year at 2:30 pm Eastern time.
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The collective slide for some of the biggest tech stocks in the market has the Nasdaq looking at a sharp 180 point opening bell decline, based on current futures prices, with AMD leading decliners with a 5% slump.
Related: AMD sees big demand for ‘Nvidia killer’ chips but issues unexpected forecast
The S&P 500 is also looking at a weaker open, with futures tied to the benchmark indicating a 25-point drop. This reflects Amazon (AMZN) – Get Free Report, Apple (AAPL) – Get Free Report and Meta Platforms (META) – Get Free Report, all of which report earnings after the close of trading Thursday, are being pulled lower by last night’s Big Tech tumble.
The Dow, meanwhile, is called around 45 points higher, with Walmart (WMT) – Get Free Report rising 1.2% after the world’s biggest retailer late Tuesday unveiled plans for a 3-for-1 stock split.
Mastercard (MA) – Get Free Report and Boeing (BA) – Get Free Report will publish December-quarter earnings prior to the start of trading, and ADP is set to release its January employment report at 8:15 am Eastern.
Network-chip maker Qualcomm (QCOM) – Get Free Report will publish December-quarter earnings after the close of trading.
In the bond market, benchmark U.S. Treasury yields were trading firmly lower on the session, with 10-year notes changing hands at 4.025% and 2-year paper pegged at 4.328%, ahead of today’s Fed rate decision later in the session.
CME Group’s FedWatch suggests traders aren’t expecting any changes in the Fed’s key policy rate, which stands between 5.25% and 5.5%, when the decision comes down at 2:00 pm Eastern time. But they see a 45% chance that rate cuts will begin in late March.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.09% higher at 103.488 heading into the decision. The heavily weighted euro fell to 1.0837 following dovish comments Tuesday from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde.
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