Stock Market Today: Dow Jones, Nasdaq Futures Gain Ahead Of Powell’s Last Speech As Fed Chair— Robinhood,

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, following Tuesday’s lower close. Futures of the major benchmark indices were higher.

Investors will be closely watching the Federal Reserve’s decision to gauge how the central bank is navigating interest rates amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran war. Additionally, Jerome Powell‘s press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET is widely considered to be his last as Chair of the Fed.

The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 100% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in today’s meeting.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.36%, and the two-year bond yield was at 3.85%.

Stocks In Focus

Booking Holdings

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that BKNG maintains a weak price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a weak growth ranking.

Robinhood Markets

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that HOOD maintains a strong trend in the short term but a weak trend in the medium and long terms, with a poor value rank.

Starbucks

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that SBUX maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms with a moderate growth score.

Amazon.com

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was up 0.038% as it was expected to report earnings after the closing bell. Analysts expect it to post earnings of $1.65 per share on revenue of $177.30 billion.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AMZN maintains a strong price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid growth score.

Alphabet

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that GOOG maintains a strong price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid quality score.

Cues From Last Session

Consumer staples, real estate, and energy shares led the S&P 500’s majority gainers on Tuesday, while information technology and materials sectors finished in the red.

Insights From Analysts

Professor Jeremy Siegel remains highly optimistic about the U.S. stock market and the broader economy, emphasizing that the “most important message from the markets is resilience.”

He believes that equities will maintain an upward trajectory, provided that oil prices remain roughly within $5 to $8 of their current levels. This bullish outlook is heavily supported by a robust corporate earnings season and a massive surge in artificial intelligence (AI) investments.

Siegel notes that the “AI investment cycle continues to provide a powerful tailwind for equities,” with strong chip demand broadening the market’s winners.

On the economic front, Siegel sees strength despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and elevated energy costs. He expects crude oil to hover between $90 and $100 a barrel, but he argues this is “workable for the U.S. economy” because the nation is a net energy exporter.

Unlike the inflation shocks of the 1970s, the current landscape features well-anchored inflation psychology. With steady job growth and consumer stability, Siegel confidently asserts that “the underlying economy is not showing signs of breaking”.

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Wednesday.

• March’s durable-goods orders, durable-goods minus transportation, advanced U.S. trade balance in goods, advanced retail inventories, and advanced wholesale inventories data will all be released by 8:30 a.m. ET.

• The FOMC interest-rate decision will be released by 2:00 p.m., and Fed Chair Powell’s press conference will follow at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 3.05% to hover around $102.98 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.67% to hover around $4,566.17 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $5,595.46 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.07% higher at the 98.7130 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.25% higher at $77,076.57 per coin, as per the last 24 hours.

Asian markets closed lower on Wednesday, except South Korea’s Kospi index. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Australia’s ASX 200, China’s CSI 300, India’s Nifty 50, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices fell. European markets were lower in early trade.

Image via Shutterstock