Dow Futures Drop 15 Points

At 07:00 ET (12:00 GMT), Dow futures gained 15 points (0.1%), S&P 500 futures gained 8 points (0.2%), and NASDAQ 100 futures gained 45 points (0, 4%).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Tuesday unchanged, with the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down 0.6 percent.

Investors have been keeping an eye on outcomes in China. There’s speculation that China is considering reducing severe coronavirus restrictions in the wake of general civil turmoil.

That said, it will certainly take some time to increase vaccination rates there materially. Thus, Wednesday’s attention will shift to more domestic matters.

Fed Rising Interest

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will deliver a speech at the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings. Investors will be attending for additional clues on monetary policy.

Powell is hoping to signal that the U.S. central bank will delay the pace of its interest rate hikes next month. However, this may also indicate that the final speed should be higher and longer than originally thought to be sufficiently limited.

The Fed increased interest rates by 75 bps at its last four policy-setting meetings. This caused borrowing costs to their highest after 2008.

There is also a significant amount of economic data for investors to outline Wednesday. It includes JOLTS job openings, Chicago PMI, ADP employment, and the second assessment of third-quarter GDP and PCE prices.