US pre-open: Futures higher, S&P on track to snap losing streak

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 on track to snap its three-day losing streak.

As of 1150 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.39%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.37% and 0.25% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 63.86 points higher on Tuesday after bond yields climbed on the back of comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, who said the central bank needed more confidence that inflation was on a downward trend before cutting interest rates.

Prior to the open, the 10-year US Treasury yield was down nearly three basis points at 4.646%, easing from its highest level in five months after Powell said recent economic data – such as three straight months of stronger-than-forecast inflation – had "clearly not" given the Fed greater confidence and instead indicate that it was likely to take longer than expected "to achieve that confidence".

Powell pushed back on market expectations for two or three rate cuts in 2024 – projections that were discussed by Fed officials at their latest meeting. "Right now, given the strength of the labour market and progress on inflation so far, it's appropriate to allow restrictive policy further time to work," he said.

In the corporate space, United Airlines traded higher on the back of a narrower-than-expected loss and a quarterly revenue beat, while JB Hunt shares headed south after falling short of expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

Still to come, US Bancorp and Travelers will both report earnings before the start of trading.

On the macro front, weekly mortgage application numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association of America were slated for release at 1200 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com