(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday, putting Wall Street on course for a positive start to March, as strong Chinese manufacturing data outweighed concerns that the Federal Reserve’s policies will remain restrictive for longer.
The main U.S. stock indexes closed out February with declines as investors braced for the possibility that the Fed will hike interest rates more than initially thought, following signs of resilient labor market and higher inflation.
Traders are pricing in expectations that the Fed will raise rates in coming months to a 5.25%-5.50% range, from the current 4.50%-4.75% range. That’s slightly higher than where Fed policymakers in December signaled they would need to take the policy rate.
U.S. monthly payrolls and consumer prices reports in the coming days will further help investors gauge the path of interest rates ahead of the Fed’s March 21-22 meeting.
Money market traders see an about 80% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike later this month, but the odds of a bigger 50 bps rate hike have grown recently.
At 5:56 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 71 points, or 0.22%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 12.25 points, or 0.31%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 60 points, or 0.5%.
Asian and European stocks rose after data showed China’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in over a decade, injecting a jolt of optimism in gloomy global markets.
ISM’s factory activity data for February is due at 10:00 a.m. ET. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, a voter in the rate-setting committee in 2023, will speak before the opening bell.
Novavax Inc slumped 23.3% in premarket trading after the COVID-19 vaccine maker raised doubts about its ability to remain in business and announced plans to slash spending as it prepares for a fall vaccination campaign.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc slid 8.4% after the theatre chain posted a more than 15% fall in fourth-quarter revenue.
Nvidia Corp slipped 0.9% as the chipmaker filed a mixed shelf offering of as much as $10 billion.
Tesla Inc rose 1.3% ahead of an investor day event. The electric carmaker is readying a production revamp of its top-selling Model Y, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the plan.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
