Stock Futures Are Down Slightly

After posting gains the day before, U.S. stock index futures dipped in morning trade on Wednesday, despite signals that tensions between Russia and Ukraine were reducing.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contracts were down roughly 30 points. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 remained unchanged.

Early Wednesday, ViacomCBS was the most significant loser; its shares plunged 1.04 percent premarket the day after the firm announced it would rename as Paramount Global. The move is part of an effort by Paramount to focus on its streaming service, Paramount+. At the same time, the company reported earnings of 26 cents per share; significantly lower than the 43 cents predicted by Wall Street. Wynn Resorts’ stock dropped 1.6 percent after the casino operator reported a larger-than-expected loss of $1.25 per share while beating revenue expectations.

Concerns about the Russia-Ukraine crisis, as well as the possibility that the Federal Reserve may begin a rate-hiking campaign to combat inflation, have pushed markets higher.

NATO leaders recently accused Russia of massing troops near the Ukrainian border after Moscow announced it was withdrawing.

Energy prices, which have been susceptible to news, jumped substantially higher Wednesday morning, with natural gas prices up almost 6% and oil prices up over 1%. President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday afternoon about the current developments between Russia and Ukraine, reaffirming that the U.S. will defend NATO territory.

The remarks followed the Russian government’s announcement earlier that some troops stationed along the Ukrainian border had returned to their stations.

It contributed to a positive mood on Wall Street on Tuesday. As a risk-on tone returned to the market, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury surpassed 2%. Yields on the benchmark note were unchanged on Wednesday, at 2.04 percent.

The Major Averages

Tuesday’s gains ended a three-day losing streak for the main averages. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 422 points or 1.2 percent. The S&P 500 increased by 1.58 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite increased by 2.5 percent.

Technology was the best-performing S&P 500 sector on the day, with nine of the 11 groups posting gains. The two sectors that were in the negative were utilities and energy stocks, which fell 0.6 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

Despite another hot PPI data, many on Wall Street are still not sure the Fed will be as aggressive as some call for this year. U.S. markets surged on optimism that Russia would not invade Ukraine this week. The Labor Department announced Tuesday that wholesale prices gained 1 percent in January, increasing the advance over the past 12 months to 9.7 percent on an unadjusted basis.

With inflation on the rise, Wall Street is anticipating the release of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes on Wednesday.

The summary may be considered old, given that the meeting took place before the most recent data. This prompted market pricing to anticipate 1.75 percentage point rate hikes this year, or seven 0.25 percentage point increases. Traders believe the Fed will make a 50-basis-point hike at its March meeting. A basis point is a fraction of a percentage point.