Investing.com – U.S. Futures pointed to a flat opening bell on Wednesday, as investors look ahead to a Federal Reserve interest rate decision later in the day.
The S&P 500 futures was flat at 2,723.50 as of 6:43 AM ET (10:43 GMT) while Dow futures increased two points or 0.01% to 24,767.0. Meanwhile tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures was down over seven points or 0.26% to 6,899.75.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points at 2:00 PM ET (18:00 GMT). Fed chair Jerome Powell gives his first press conference a half hour later. Investors are expecting two more interest rate hikes this year but will be watching closely for any hawkish signs from Powell that rates will raise more than expected. The Fed is also expected to release the new forecasts for economic growth and interest rates, known as the “dot plot.”
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) continued to be among the biggest losers in pre-market data, falling 1.87% amid a data breach scandal that has shook the company. The social media giant has fallen more than 9% in the last two days, losing nearly $60 million off its market value since news that Cambridge Analytica used data from over 50 million users to target political ads without their knowledge.
Meanwhile Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corp ADR (NYSE:NOK) decreased 1.04% while public relations firm Cision (NYSE:CISN) was down 2.19%.
Elsewhere Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) gained 1.47% while Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) was up 1.26% and Jd.Com Inc Adr (NASDAQ:JD) rose 2.27%.
In data news, Existing Home Sales for February come out at 10:00 AM ET (14:00 GMT), while crude oil inventories is released at 10:30 AM ET (14:30 GMT).
In Europe stocks were mixed. Germany’s DAX rose three and a half points or 0.03% while in France the CAC 40 decreased six points or 0.13% and in London, the FTSE 100 was down 39 points or 0.56%. Meanwhile the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 lost five points or 0.14% while Spain’s IBEX 35 increased three points or 0.04%.
In commodities, gold futures were up 0.34% to $1,316.30 a troy ounce while crude oil futures surged 0.82% to $64.06 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.33% to 89.71.