Futures steady as investors await Fed’s economic outlook

By Medha Singh

(Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Dow futures ticked lower on Wednesday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting that could shed further light on the central bank’s view of the economy as it emerges from lockdowns.

Fed policymakers will publish their first economic projections since the coronavirus pandemic set off a recession in February that ended a decade-long expansion. Investors will also look for any hints on yield curve control measures amid a recent surge in U.S. Treasury yields.

The projections and the Fed’s policy statement will be released at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT), followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Prospects of a rebound in the economy, backed by encouraging data have been pivotal in driving stocks higher in recent weeks, with the Nasdaq <.ixic> notching a record closing high for the second straight session on Tuesday and the S&P 500 <.spx> ending about 5% below its all-time peak.

At 6:02 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 80 points, or 0.29%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 4.75 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 30.25 points, or 0.3%.

Some of the heavyweight stocks on the Nasdaq 100 <.ndx> index – Apple , Facebook Inc , Amazon.com Inc – rose about 0.5% in premarket trading.

Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp dropped about 1.5% each, as oil prices weakened after a rise in U.S. crude inventories raised concerns of oversupply. [O/R]

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc rose about 4% after the world’s largest theater operator said it expected to reopen its theaters globally in July.

Economic data at 8:30 a.m. ET is expected to show consumer price index (CPI) was unchanged in May after dropping about 0.8% in the prior month.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)