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* Futures down: Dow 0.32%, S&P 0.32%, Nasdaq 0.34%
Nov 1 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures drifted lower
on Wednesday as longer-dated Treasury yields rose ahead of the
Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision at the end of its
two-day meeting.
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged
but investors will focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s conference
at 1430 ET (1830 GMT) after the statement to gauge how long the
central bank could keep rates elevated.
Traders’ bets of a 25 basis point rate hike in December
currently stand at 27.4%, as per CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
“We know that Jerome Powell won’t call the end of the policy
tightening after seeing a blowout growth data,” said Ipek
Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, referring to a
robust third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) report.
Weighing on sentiment, the yield on the 10-year note
rose to 4.905% while that on the two-year note
, which best reflects short-term rate expectations,
was largely steady at 5.07%.
The Fed’s messaging on interest rates will likely set the
tone for U.S. equities following a sharp fall in October due to
a surge in Treasury yields, the Middle East conflict and mixed
earnings reports.
Among major movers, Advanced Micro Devices slipped
2.4% in premarket trading after the chipmaker forecast
fourth-quarter revenue and gross margins below Wall Street
estimates.
CVS Health, Humana and Estee Lauder
are among major companies reporting earnings on Wednesday.
Overall, analysts expect earnings growth of 4.9% for S&P 500
companies in the third quarter, per LSEG data, a sharp
improvement over the 1.6% growth forecast at the beginning of
October.
Investors will also parse through a slew of data on the
labor market, including the ADP National Employment report and a
reading on job openings later on Wednesday, ahead of the monthly
payrolls report for October on Friday.
The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) survey on
manufacturing activity last month will also provide more clues
on the strength of the economy.
The release of quarterly refunding details from the Treasury
Department will also be in focus on Wednesday, given a sharp
rise in longer-dated bond yields in recent weeks that has fueled
concerns about the U.S. fiscal deficit.
Analysts have cautioned that any surprises to the upside may
push the 10-year yield higher, likely piling more pressure on
stocks.
At 5:17 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 106 points,
or 0.32%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 13.5 points, or
0.32%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 49.25 points, or
0.34%.
Shares of payroll processor Paycom Software plunged
35.6% premarket on a downbeat fourth-quarter revenue outlook,
while First Solar gained 4.4% as the solar panel maker
raised the lower end of its full-year profit forecast.
(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; additional reporting by Bansari
Mayur Kamdar; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
