U.S. stock futures posted modest gains on Wednesday night, recovering from a steep decline in the afternoon session following Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s latest comments on the market, tariffs, and inflation.
The S&P 500 Futures are up 0.51% at 5,333, the Nasdaq Futures trade at 18,500, up 0.63%, and the Dow Jones is at 40,023, up 0.43%. This comes amid all three indices ending down in the spot market on Wednesday, by 2.24%, 3.07%, and 1.73%, respectively.
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Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 opened up 0.27% on Thursday morning, led once again by tech and export-linked stocks.
The U.S. Dollar Index is up 0.13% at the time of writing, after having slid by 0.70% following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments on the tariffs, stating that it can lead to “higher inflation and slower growth” at the Economic Club of Chicago.
Oil prices witnessed a late rally on Wednesday, with Brent Crude Oil up 0.49%, now trading at $66.17 per barrel, and the U.S. West Texas Intermediate up by 0.67%. This comes after the U.S. Treasury Department decided to sanction a “teapot” refinery in China, Shandong Shengxing Chemical Co., for purchasing close to a billion dollars worth of crude oil from Iran, according to a report by Reuters.
With Washington restarting negotiations with Tehran on its nuclear program, the move is aimed at applying additional pressure. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Any refinery, company, or broker that chooses to purchase Iranian oil or facilitate Iran's oil trade places itself at serious risk” in a press release by the department.
Concerns of a tighter supply in the global markets led to a rally in the commodity, which has been reeling under pressure throughout this month owing to tariffs and growing recessionary concerns, according to TradingEconomics.
Besides this, the markets will be closely watching the earnings results of UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and American Express Co. (NYSE:AXP) on Thursday.
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