US stock index futures were largely unchanged on Tuesday after a tech-driven rally drove Wall Street to record closing highs for the third straight session, while investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks on the economy.
Powell’s comments could be crucial to shaping interest rate expectations at a time when traders are weighing conflicting signals from the Fed, with some officials arguing for measured cuts going forward to keep inflation in check.
Newly appointed Fed Governor Stephen Miran, however, said on Monday that the central bank risks over-tightening and harming the labor market if it holds back, highlighting the tightrope the Fed faces in balancing inflation against labor market pressures.
“We don’t really just have a clean recovery path from the inflation highs of 2022, because we’ve gotten the shock of tariffs that are basically occurring right when you would have expected to be getting closer to that 2 percent target,” said Michael Reynolds, vice president, investment strategy at Glenmede.
“Right now, it seems like it’s the labor market that has the greater risk.”
A September reading of S&P Global’s flash manufacturing PMI is due after markets open. Comments from Fed Governor Michelle Bowman and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will also be parsed.
At 5.41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 71 points, or 0.15 percent, US S&P 500 E-minis were mostly unchanged and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 7 points, or 0.03 percent.
Wall Street has rallied so far in September, a historically weak month for equities, with the S&P 500 index recording a 3.6 percent lift as tenacious traders navigate uncertainties around President Donald Trump’s policies. — US stock index futures were largely unchanged on Tuesday after a tech-driven rally drove Wall Street to record closing highs for the third straight session, while investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks on the economy.
Powell’s comments could be crucial to shaping interest rate expectations at a time when traders are weighing conflicting signals from the Fed, with some officials arguing for measured cuts going forward to keep inflation in check.
Newly appointed Fed Governor Stephen Miran, however, said on Monday that the central bank risks over-tightening and harming the labor market if it holds back, highlighting the tightrope the Fed faces in balancing inflation against labor market pressures.
“We don’t really just have a clean recovery path from the inflation highs of 2022, because we’ve gotten the shock of tariffs that are basically occurring right when you would have expected to be getting closer to that 2 percent target,” said Michael Reynolds, vice president, investment strategy at Glenmede.
“Right now, it seems like it’s the labor market that has the greater risk.”
A September reading of S&P Global’s flash manufacturing PMI is due after markets open. Comments from Fed Governor Michelle Bowman and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will also be parsed.
At 5.41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 71 points, or 0.15 percent, US S&P 500 E-minis were mostly unchanged and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 7 points, or 0.03 percent.
Wall Street has rallied so far in September, a historically weak month for equities, with the S&P 500 index recording a 3.6 percent lift as tenacious traders navigate uncertainties around President Donald Trump’s policies.
