Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Inch Higher Ahead of Fed Rate Decision as Investors Track News on Iran-Israel Conflict
Stock futures moved slightly higher Wednesday morning as investors monitored developments in the escalating conflict in the Middle East and awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each up 0.1% recently, while Nasdaq futures added 0.2%. Stocks slid on Tuesday on concerns that the fighting between Israel and Iran could turn into a broader conflict, amid reports that President Donald Trump is weighing the possibility of a U.S. strike on an Iranian nuclear facility.
Oil prices, which have surged in recent days amid concerns about possible supply disruptions, were also holding steady this morning. West Texas Intermediate Futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were down 0.1% at $74.75 per barrel, after surging more than 5% yesterday to their highest level since January.
Global financial markets have been volatile since last Friday, when Israel first launched attacks on Iran, leading to several days of missile strikes by the countries on one another. Saber rattling between the U.S. and Iran in recent days has heightened the tension.
While market participants keep a close eye on geopolitical developments, they’re also preparing for the Fed’s announcement on interest rates, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET. With the central bank widely expected to leave its benchmark rate unchanged, investors will be focused on the quarterly economic projections from the policy committee and what Chair Jerome Powell has to say about the outlook amid concerns that tariffs will spur inflation and weigh on economic activity.
Mega-cap tech stocks were mostly higher this morning, though the gains were modest. Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) were all up less than 0.5%, while Microsoft (MSFT) and Broadcom (AVGO) fell fractionally.
Bitcoin was at $104,700 this morning, down from an overnight high of $105,600 but little changed from yesterday afternoon.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of consumer and business loans, was at 4.36% recently, down from 4.39% at Tuesday’s close. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, slipped 0.2% to 98.59, but was still well above the three-year low it hit last week of around 97.60.
Gold futures were holding steady at $3,405 an ounce this morning, after moving as high as $3,470 last Friday, near a record high, as some investors turned to the traditional safe haven amid the geopolitical uncertainty.