Futures rise as focus turns to Fed's inflation stance

[June 14, 2021]  By Medha Singh

(Reuters) - S&P 500 futures hit a record high on Monday as focus shifted to the Federal Reserve's meeting this week, where the central bank is expected to maintain its accommodative stance on monetary policy.

A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., April 16, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

Recent data has indicated that the U.S. economy is regaining momentum but not overheating, taming worries about inflation and sending the S&P 500 to an all-time high.

While the Fed has reassured that any spike in inflation would be transitory, policymakers could begin discussing the tapering of bond buying at the Tuesday-Wednesday meeting. Most analysts, however, don't expect a decision before the central bank's annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference in August.

Any shift in the Fed's dovish rhetoric could upend equity markets. The benchmark has climbed 13% this year while the Dow and the Nasdaq have risen 12.6% and 9.2%, respectively.

At 6:24 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 13 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 3 points, or 0.07%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 34 points, or 0.24%.

Oil firms Chevron, Marathon Oil Corp, Schlumberger, Occidental Petroleum and Marathon Petroleum Corp rose between 0.2% and 1.3% as crude prices hit their highest levels in more than two years. [O/R]

United Airlines Holdings and American Airlines Group rose 0.7% each after Citigroup raised its price target on the stocks.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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