Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 1, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Stock futures were down on Wednesday morning.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 157 points, or 0.42%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures hovered near the flatline.
Cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Marathon Digital fell 1% and nearly 3%, respectively, as bitcoin prices declined. The price movement came on the back of an incorrect announcement posted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account, saying that it had approved bitcoin ETFs.
Elsewhere, Juniper Networks added nearly 0.6%, building on Tuesday’s gains after Hewlett Packard Enterprise said it would buy the company for roughly $14 billion, or $40 per share, in an all-cash deal. HPE shares slipped 0.3%, adding to Tuesday’s nearly 9% loss.
Stocks are coming off a mixed session. The S&P 500 lost 0.15%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 158 points, or 0.42%. The Nasdaq Composite eked out a slight 0.09% gain. Seven of eleven major S&P sectors finished with losses, led to the downside by a 1.6% drop in energy.
Markets remain in “wait-and-see mode” as investors ready for the unofficial start of earnings season kicking off Friday with big banks, and brace for two key inflation reports that could inform upcoming Federal Reserve rate decisions, said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. December’s consumer price index report comes Thursday, followed by the producer price index reading on Friday.
Traders in recent weeks have boosted their bets on a Federal Reserve pivot, bracing for rate cuts as soon as March. Some of those expectations have been dialed back in recent days, although the odds hover at around 63%, according to CME Group FedWatch tool.
“It almost feels like we ended the year with the Fed pivot party, and we’re potentially experiencing a little bit of a hangover right now,” Roland said.
Earnings heats up Friday with results from major financial heavyweights including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, along with UnitedHealth Group and Delta Air Lines.
