Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures indicate a muted start on Wall Street today; all eyes on FOMC minutes

Wall Street Dow Jones News: The futures of Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite inched lower on Wednesday, though faring better than the rest of the world where fears of higher-for-longer interest rates marred investor sentiment. Investors awaited minutes of the FOMC's last policy review due later in the day for direction.

Dow Jones and Nasdaq Composite futures edged lower on Wednesday, ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street. | Image: Reuters

Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures: The three main Wall Street indices — the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite — are set for a muted start on Wednesday, a day after the three suffered their worst single-day losses of 2023 thanks to fears of a prolonged period of steep hikes in benchmark interest rates among investors. All eyes are now on minutes of the last policy review of the Federal Open Market Committee — the Fed's interest rate-deciding panel — due later in the day for cues.

Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures were each down 0.1 per cent at the last count on Wednesday evening in India, ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street. MSCI's All-Country World Equity index, which broadly captures global equity movement, was down 1.5 per cent.

The minor losses in the futures contracts of US benchmark indices follow a sea of red across major markets across Europe and Asia, including a wild session on Dalal Street where main gauges Sensex and Nifty50 tumbled 1.5 per cent each amid a broad-based sell-off. ALSO READ: All Adani group stocks bleed; a look at latest in Adani vs Hindenburg

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How Dow Jones, Nasdaq futures moved

Here's a look at how futures of the three Wall Street indices, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, fared at 5:40 pm in India:

S&P 500: down 2.5 pts — or 0.1 per cent — at 4,003.3
Dow Jones Industrial Average: down 20 pts — or 0.1 per cent — at 33,142
Nasdaq Composite: down 15.7 pts — or 0.1 per cent — at 12,081

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones index finished 2.1 per cent lower, the S&P 500 fell two per cent and the Nasdaq Composite — which has mega US tech stocks such as Meta (Facebook), Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet (Google) as heavyweights — slumped 2.5 per cent. That marked their worst single-day fall of the year so far, as investors returned to trade after a long weekend on account of the Presidents Day holiday.

What spooked Wall Street bulls on February 21

Tuesday's slide came about as investors interpreted a rebound in business activity in the world's largest economy to mean interest rates could need to stay at elevated levels for longer than anticipated earlier in a bid to tame red-hot inflation. It was a third back-to-back fall for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each.

A PMI reading showed business activity in the US returned to expansion after a gap of eight months.

(With inputs from agencies)

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