Stocks futures were lower early Wednesday morning as investors awaited not only a rate decision from the Federal Reserve this afternoon but several key economic indicators and lots of corporate earnings too. U.S. stock markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 39 points, or 0.31%, the S&P 500 ended 5 points lower, or 0.39%. Only the heavily tech weighted Nasdaq Composite rose 1.7 points, or 0.07% due to a lift from upbeat earnings from Corning.
Today, investors will focus their attention on different items throughout the day as they await the Fed decision coming at 2:15 p.m. EDT when the Fed releases its policy statement. Most expect the Federal Reserve to cut key rates by a quarter point to 2%, but to hint at a pause in the cuts.
Before the bell, Wall Street will also look at earnings from heavyweights such as General Motors, Procter & Gamble and Time Warner. PG and TWX already reported results.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) reported that first-quarter profit rose 8% o $2.71 billion, or 82 cents per share as cost control and price increases helped offset higher commodity costs. Revenue rose 9% to $20.46 billion. Analysts predicted profit of 81 cents per share on revenue of $20.43 billion.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX)'s first-quarter profits fell 36% following an asset sale a year ago, and the company also said it will spin off the rest of its cable business. Excluding one-time effects, per-share results were 22 cents per share, a penny below analyst estimates and in line with a year ago. Revenues rose 2% to $11.42 billion from $11.18 billion.
In between all the corporate earnings, investors will get to look at data about the U.S. gross domestic product for the first quarter. Economists expect an abysmal 0.5% growth, according Briefing.com, although from reading more on the matter, it seems they expect an even lesser number. The report will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Before that, April employment data from ADP is expected at 8:15.
The April Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index is due no long after the market opens.
It will also be interesting to see how, if at all, weekly crude inventories numbers will affect oil prices which have slumped to below $115 a barrel on the dollar's recent strength.
Also in focus this morning is Citigroup (NYSE: C), which announced plans late Tuesday to raise $3 billion via a common stock offering, as part of an effort to shore up its balance sheet.
Finally, Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX), which according to The Wall Street Journal will introduce two healthier drinks, is reporting after the bell.
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