April 15 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were largely unchanged on Wednesday as investors caught their breath after a rally, while awaiting fresh signals from a raft of corporate earnings and remarks from Federal Reserve officials.
Hopes that Washington and Tehran could return to the negotiating table have supported equities this week, despite the U.S. military blockade of Iranian ports.
The resilience suggests that war-weary investors stand ready to rotate into risk assets at the slightest hint of de-escalation.
At 05:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis and U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were flat, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis rose 35.5 points, or 0.14%.
The benchmark S&P 500 index, however, is nearing its first intraday record high since the conflict erupted.
BANK RESULTS IN SPOTLIGHT
Another busy day for corporate earnings will be scrutinized for clues on how companies are navigating the impact of the war.
Investors are due to hear from Bank of America, the second biggest U.S. lender, and Wall Street heavyweight Morgan Stanley on Wednesday.
Their shares were up 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively, in the premarket session ahead of earnings.
So far this week, banks have said that U.S. consumers are financially healthy and that pipelines for IPOs and deals should remain robust unless the conflict drags on for much longer.
Still, some analysts warn that as stocks climb, they may become more vulnerable to sharp reversals if developments in the Middle East do not match the optimistic assumptions many are pricing in.
“U.S. equities appear to be looking through risks still being priced in commodity markets,” BofA Global Research analysts wrote.
“With the ceasefire appearing fragile and signs of stress in commodity markets still evident, the equity retracement appears to be looking through the risks of re-escalation.”
Oil prices fell on Wednesday but remain 31% above pre-war levels.
The International Monetary Fund cut its outlook for global growth on Tuesday, citing the war-driven energy price spikes. An extended conflict could also push the world to the brink of a recession, it warned.
Additionally, traders will hear commentary from Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman on Wednesday.
Among individual stock movers, Nike rose 2.7% after CEO Elliott Hill bought additional stock in the company.
Broadcom advanced 3.2% after Meta extended its custom chips deal with the firm.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
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