Futures edge up after Wall St rout; Fed speakers, data in focus

[September 22, 2023]  By Ankika Biswas and Shristi Achar A

(Reuters) -Wall Street index futures inched up on Friday after concerns over interest rates battered stocks in the prior session, while investors awaited data and comments from policymakers to assess the Federal Reserve's next steps.

U.S. Treasury yields retreated, after surging to multi-year highs on Thursday, aiding a 0.5%-1.2% rebound in growth stocks, including Apple, Amazon.com, Nvidia and Tesla in premarket trading.

Worries over another interest rate hike in 2023 and prospects of a delay in the easing of monetary policy knocked down the three main indexes by more than 1% each on Thursday.

The benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq were on track for their worst week since March after the U.S. central bank delivered a hawkish pause on Wednesday, dampening hopes for policy easing before 2025.

"The prospect of rates staying higher for longer has given investors a lingering headache," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

"Many had hoped we would approach the end of 2023 with a clearer picture on when rates will start to be cut."

Traders' bets on the benchmark rate remaining unchanged in November and December stood at 74% and 55%, respectively, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Investors will monitor flash reading of the S&P Global manufacturing and services PMI for September shortly after the opening bell for more clues on the path for interest rates and the health of the U.S. economy.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

A slew of Fed policymakers, including Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari and board Governor Lisa Cook, both policy voting members, are set to speak at several events during the day.

The Detroit Three automakers are also in focus as they enter the final hours to reach new labor agreements with the union before the current strike expands to more plants.

At 6:55 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 36 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 11 points, or 0.25%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 68.5 points, or 0.46%.

Activision Blizzard added 1.8% after Britain's antitrust regulator said the company's restructured $69 billion acquisition by Microsoft "opens the door" to the biggest-ever gaming deal being cleared.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese firms including PDD Holdings, JD.com, Li Auto and Baidu rose between 3.6% and 4.3% on hopes of a rebound in economic growth, while Alibaba gained 4.3% on report the company's logistics arm Cainiao was planning to file for a Hong Kong IPO as soon as next week.

Wayfair rose 2.6% after Bernstein upgraded the online furniture retailer to "market perform" from "underperform", citing improving revenue growth and margins.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Vinay Dwivedi)

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