US stock futures were little changed Thursday night after major averages saw a comeback late in the day as investors assessed the possibility of monetary policy tightening from the Federal Reserve to combat inflation.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 2 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.01% and 0.05%, respectively.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded on Thursday after two consecutive days of losses. The Dow rose 87.06 points, or 0.25%, to 3,4583.57 points, after dropping as much as 300 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 rose 0.43% to 4500.21, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.06% to 13897.30.
The volatile session occurred amid continuing uncertainty as investors weighed a more aggressive stance against inflation by the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, the central bank released the minutes of its March meeting, revealing that policymakers plan to reduce their bond holdings by a consensus amount of about $95 billion per month. The minutes also indicated a possible 50 basis point hike in interest rates in future meetings. The base point is 0.01%.
“We are in a range-traded market and it will be for some time,” Stephanie Link, senior investment analyst and portfolio manager at Hightower, told CNBC. “And that’s really because we have a lot of unknowns to deal with.”
On the economic front, the Wholesale Inventories report will be released at 10 am on Friday.
Investors are also looking forward to earnings season, which begins next week with reports from five major banks. JPMorgan will report before the bell on Wednesday. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo will all report before markets open Thursday.