(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday as investors sought insight into the Federal Reserve’s policy plans following a decline in Treasury yields in the last session and braced for any announcements on the tariffs front.
Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s January meeting, where it held interest rates unchanged at 4.25% to 4.5%, are due on Wednesday.
When the U.S. markets were closed for the Presidents’ Day holiday on Monday, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said his “baseline” view was that U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs would have only a modest impact on prices.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said he saw no reason to change interest-rate policy right now.
Hawkish commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his semi-annual testimony to Congress, along with consumer prices and producer prices data last week, led to uncertainty over the Fed’s rate-cut plans this year.
Traders currently see at least one 25-basis-point cut and a 58% chance of an additional cut by December, according to LSEG data.
“Considering the Fed still views its monetary policy as restrictive — implying rate cuts will be needed at some point — we continue to expect easing in the second half of 2025 as inflation moderates over time,” Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a note.
Friday’s weaker-than-expected retail sales reading pulled Treasury yields lower, likely keeping the U.S. central bank on track to cut borrowing costs this year.
Wall Street’s main stock indexes clocked weekly gains in the midst of a choppy period for global markets last week as Trump’s imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, along with plans for reciprocal tariffs, sparked volatility.
The S&P 500 is about 0.2% from its all-time highest level, hit about four weeks ago, as of Friday’s close.
Meanwhile, global risk-taking was boosted by speculations of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, after Russian and U.S. officials met for bilateral talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
At 05:01 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 10 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 15 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 76.25 points, or 0.34%.
Earnings season will start thinning out this week, with more than 380 of the S&P 500 companies already having reported quarterly results.
Retail giant Walmart’s earnings, a gauge to understand how the American consumer is faring, are due later this week.
S&P 500 companies are expected to have posted a year-over-year earnings growth of 15.3%, up from an expectation of less than 10% at the start of 2025, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Most megacap and growth stocks ticked up in premarket trading, with Tesla outpacing the pack with a 1% increase.
Intel advanced 5.2% after a report over the weekend said rivals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Broadcom were each eyeing potential deals that could break the chipmaking icon in two.
Constellation Brands jumped 9.3% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a new investment in the alcoholic beverages producer on Friday.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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