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Stock
futures
advanced
Wednesday
night
as
investors
looked
ahead
to
more
corporate
earnings
due
Thursday
and
key
labor
data
set
for
later
in
the
week.
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
futures
added
80
points,
or
0.2%.
S&P
500
futures
climbed
about
0.3%.
Nasdaq
100
futures
increased
by
0.3%.
In
after-hours
trading,
chipmaker
Qualcomm
rose
more
than
3%
on
better-than-expected
adjusted
earnings
and
strong
revenue
guidance.
Restaurant
delivery
service
DoorDash
dropped
15%
after
reporting
a
wider
loss
per
share
than
Wall
Street
forecast.
Those
moves
followed
a
choppy
day
on
Wall
Street
as
investors
reacted
to
the
Federal
Reserve’s
decision
to
keep
interest
rates
unchanged.
In
the
closely-watched
press
conference,
Fed
Chair
Jerome
Powell
essentially
ruled
out
an
interest
rate
hike
as
the
central
bank’s
next
move,
despite
few
recent
signs
of
easing
inflation.
All
three
major
stock
indexes
leapt
by
more
than
1%
at
their
highs
of
the
day,
but
they
cooled
considerably
by
the
close
of
Wednesday’s
bumpy
session.
The
Dow
finished
about
0.2%
higher,
while
the
S&P
500
and
Nasdaq
Composite
both
closed
the
session
lower
by
roughly
0.3%.
Powell’s
emphasis
on
the
next
central
bank
move
likely
not
being
a
hike
“should
be
soothing
for
financial
markets,”
according
to
Eric
Winograd,
director
of
developed
market
economic
research
at
AllianceBernstein.
Still,
when
the
Fed
might
actually
begin
lowering
borrowing
costs
remains
uncertain,
a
question
that
has
been
top
of
mind
for
traders.
“‘Higher
for
longer’
is
the
Fed’s
mantra,”
Winograd
said.
“We
are
past
the
‘higher’
part
and
into
the
‘longer,’
unless
something
dramatic
changes.”
Investors
will
watch
Thursday
for
economic
data
on
weekly
jobless
claims,
first-quarter
worker
productivity
and
unit
labor
costs,
as
well
as
March
figures
on
the
trade
deficit
and
factory
orders.
Those
releases
all
come
ahead
of
Friday’s
closely
watched
April
jobs
report.
Thursday’s
quarterly
earnings
reports
are
dominated
by
Apple
and
Amgen
after
the
close,
alongside
Coinbase
and
DraftKings.
Before
the
market
opens,
Moderna
and
Peloton
are
both
scheduled
to
post
results.
