Traders
work
on
the
floor
of
the
New
York
Stock
Exchange
on
July
22,
2024.
Timothy
A.
Clary
|
AFP
|
Getty
Images
S&P
500
futures
are
near
flat
Tuesday
night
as
investors
parsed
the
latest
earnings
reports
and
readied
for
the
Federal
Reserve
monetary
policy
decision
coming
Wednesday
afternoon.
Futures
tied
to
the
broad
index
advanced
0.1%,
while
Nasdaq
100
futures
ticked
higher
by
0.5%.
Futures
tied
to
the
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
dropped
176
points,
or
0.4%.
In
extended
trading,
Microsoft
shares
dropped
more
than
2%
as
its
cloud
business
disappointed
Wall
Street.
On
the
other
hand,
Advanced
Micro
Devices
climbed
more
than
7%
as
second-quarter
results
topped
consensus
forecasts.
Artificial
intelligence
darling
Nvidia
climbed
more
than
5%
on
the
back
of
AMD’s
report.
Those
moves
follow
a
mixed
session
on
Tuesday
as
traders
continued
rotating
out
of
megacap
technology
names.
The
tech-heavy
Nasdaq
Composite
slid
1.3%.
The
broad
S&P
500
slipped
0.5%,
led
down
by
information
technology
names.
The
blue-chip
Dow
bucked
the
downtrend,
adding
0.5%.
The
Russell
2000
also
outperformed,
rising
about
0.4%
as
investors
continued
buying
into
small
caps
amid
the
shift
away
from
major
tech
names
that
have
led
the
market
higher
for
much
of
the
year.
All
eyes
are
on
the
Federal
Reserve
on
Wednesday,
which
wraps
up
its
policy
meeting
with
an
announcement
about
interest
rates
and
a
subsequent
press
conference
with
Chair
Jerome
Powell.
Fed
funds
futures
are
pricing
in
a
strong
likelihood
that
central
bankers
will
keep
rates
steady
at
the
5.25%
to
5.5%
range,
according
to
CME’s
FedWatch
Tool.
The
main
focus
for
traders,
however,
will
be
whether
Powell
offers
any
signs
that
cuts
may
be
on
the
near
horizon.
“Investors
are
expecting
a
strong
signal
for
a
September
rate
cut
by
the
Fed,”
said
Bryce
Doty,
senior
portfolio
manager
at
Sit
Investment
Associates.
“But
it’s
difficult
for
the
Fed
to
sound
overly
confident
on
a
future
rate
cut
because
that
will
beg
the
question,
‘Why
not
cut
now?’
Consequently,
investors
are
likely
to
be
disappointed
by
the
tone
and
posture
of
the
Fed
meeting.”
In
the
runup
to
the
announcement,
traders
will
monitor
economic
data
on
private
payrolls,
employment
costs
and
pending
home
sales
due
throughout
the
morning.
On
the
corporate
earnings
front,
they
will
watch
for
releases
from
Boeing
before
the
bell,
followed
by
Albemarle,
Qualcomm,
Etsy
and
Carvana
after
the
market
closes.
Those
could
be
the
final
catalysts
in
a
bumpy
month
for
the
market.
The
S&P
500
and
Nasdaq
are
tracking
to
end
July
down
0.4%
and
3.3%,
respectively.
The
Dow
and
Russell
2000
are
slated
to
finish
the
month
higher
by
more
than
4%
and
9%,
respectively.
That
underscores
the
market
rotation’s
boost
to
stocks
that
are
smaller
and
more
cyclically
oriented.
