Investing.com – U.S. stock futures rose slightly in evening trading on Wednesday, extending gains on Wall Street after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting fueled growing confidence that the central bank would cut interest rates.
Further signs of a slowdown in the labor market also contributed to interest rate cut expectations, and the Fed is now widely expected to take action starting in September.
stabilized at 5,463.0 points, while it rose 0.1% to 19,927.50 points by 19:22 ET (23:22 GMT). remained unchanged at 41,019.0 points.
Fed minutes: Expectations of further interest rate cuts, Wall Street gains
The Fed’s late-July meeting results released Wednesday show that a growing number of policymakers are in favor of cutting interest rates given progress in reducing inflation.
The central bank had struck a largely dovish tone during the meeting, and Wednesday’s minutes reinforced that notion. The dovish outlook for the Fed kept traders betting on a September rate cut, although they were divided over a 25- or 50-basis-point cut.
Following Wednesday’s minutes, Wall Street stocks rose, albeit slowly. Labor market data showing slower job growth than originally reported for this year also boosted expectations for a rate cut, as a cooling labor market is also a key consideration for the Fed.
Analysts at Citi expect their base case for September to be a 50 basis point cut, especially after Wednesday’s minutes showed more officials leaning toward lower rates.
The rose by 0.4% to 5,620.85 points on Wednesday, while the rose by 0.6% to 17,817.99 points. The rose by 0.1% to 40,890.49 points.
Powell to speak in Jackson Hole
Gains on Wall Street were curbed by expectations of a speech by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.
Markets generally expect Powell to reiterate the central bank’s dovish stance, setting the stage for a rate cut in September. However, it remains unclear whether the Fed chairman will explicitly announce a rate cut in September.
Moving after business hours: Paramount rises with new offer, Snowflake falls
Among major after-hours players, Paramount Global (NASDAQ:) stock rose nearly 3% after media executive Edgar Bronfman raised his offer for the company and Shari Redstone’s National Amusements from $4.3 billion to $6 billion.
Paramount’s board of directors said it was reviewing the offer and pitting Bronfman against Skydance for control of the studio.
Shares of cloud company Snowflake Inc (NYSE:) fell 6% after its quarterly net loss widened and the company issued a disappointing outlook for the year amid rising costs and subdued demand for its artificial intelligence offerings.
