FX.co ★ US Futures Cautious Ahead of Fed

On Wednesday, futures tied to the major US stock averages were mostly unchanged as investors refrained from significant moves prior to the Federal Open Market Committee's impending policy announcement. The Federal Reserve is anticipated to implement a third consecutive 25 basis point reduction in the federal funds rate. However, the primary attention will be on the updated economic projections. There is a division among policymakers regarding the necessity for further rate cuts; certain members advocate for additional reductions to address potential labor market deterioration, while others express concern that continued easing may trigger inflation. In premarket action, the performance of megacap stocks was varied: Nvidia experienced a minor uptick of 0.2%, and Apple displayed negligible movement. Amazon remained stable after revealing plans to invest $35 billion in India over the next five years. In contrast, Microsoft declined by 1.4% following the announcement of a $17.5 billion investment in India over the forthcoming four years to bolster its cloud and AI infrastructure. Both Meta and Alphabet saw declines, with Meta dropping 0.8% and Alphabet declining 0.6%. Meanwhile, Oracle rose by 0.4% ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement.