US equity futures rallied on Wednesday after resilient earnings from Google parent Alphabet and an upbeat outlook from Microsoft helped alleviate some of the wider caution in markets.
Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 added over 1%, while S&P 500 futures were up more than 0.5%. Microsoft jumped in extended trading on a strong sales forecast, while Alphabet’sStill, the mood remains edgy ahead of a much-anticipated Federal Reserve interest-rate increase – part of a global wave of monetary tightening to quell inflation that’s stoking concerns about a worldwide economic slowdown.
Treasury yields were little changed as traders brace for a widely telegraphed 75 basis-point Fed hike later on Wednesday. The dollar dipped, oil was around $95 a barrel and Bitcoin peeked above $21,000. The key question is whether chair Jerome Powell’s policy signals validate or refute scaled-back bets projecting a 3.4% peak fed funds rate around year-end and cuts in 2023 to shore up an economy at risk of recession.