US stock futures rise with Fed, big tech earnings in focus

Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures rose in evening deals on Sunday as focus turned to an upcoming Federal Reserve meeting for more cues on interest rate cuts.

Focus was also squarely on a string of June-quarter earnings from Wall Street’s biggest companies, such as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which are due in the coming days. 

Wall Street indexes had rebounded sharply on Friday after PCE price index data- which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge- read mostly within expectations for June, driving up optimism that the central bank will begin cutting rates in September. 

S&P 500 Futures rose 0.2% to 5,512.0 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.4% to 19,244.50 points by 19:40 ET (00:40 GMT). Dow Jones Futures rose 0.2% to 40,931.0 points. 

Fed meeting set to provide rate cut clarity 

The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of a two-day meeting on Wednesday. 

But any signals from the central bank on when it plans to begin cutting interest rates will be closely watched, amid increasing signs that inflation had cooled in recent months.

A slew of Fed officials also said in recent addresses that the central bank was gaining more confidence in its battle against inflation, and that it did not need to see inflation reaching its 2% annual target to begin cutting rates. 

General consensus is that the Fed will keep rates steady this week, but potentially offer signals on a September rate cut. Traders were seen pricing in a 25 basis point cut by the Fed in September, CME Fedwatch showed. 

Apple, Microsoft set to report earnings 

Earnings reports from some of Wall Street’s biggest companies are on tap this week, with Microsoft and Apple set to report on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. 

Other tech majors including Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) are also set to report earnings through the week.

The results come in the wake of an extended rout in technology stocks, as the sector was walloped by profit-taking and as expectations of rate cuts saw investors pivot into more economically sensitive sectors. 

Underwhelming earnings from Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last week also sparked increased caution ahead of the tech earnings, with investors waiting to see whether increased investment in artificial intelligence was bearing fruit. 

The S&P 500 rose 1.1% to 5,459.10 points, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 1% to 17,357.88 points on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.6% to 40,589.34 points.