Following Thursday’s rally, stock futures are barely changed as investors examine the Federal Reserve’s objectives

 

On Thursday night, U.S. stock futures were barely changed after the main averages made a late-day recovery as investors assessed the chances of the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy to battle inflation. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2 points, or 0.01 percent. Futures on the S&P After two days of losses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered on Thursday. After losing as much as 300 points earlier in the day, the Dow climbed 87.06 points, or 0.25 percent, to 34,583.57. The S&P 500 index rose 0.43 percent to 4,500.21, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.06 percent to 13,897.30.

The turbulent day happened amid persistent uncertainty as investors considered the Federal Reserve’s more aggressive stance against inflation. The minutes of the central bank’s March meeting were released on Wednesday, indicating that officials expect to cut their bond holdings by an average of $95 billion each month. Future meetings might see interest rate rises of 50 basis points, according to the minutes. A basis point is equal to 0.001% of a percentage.

“We’re in a trading range market, and it’ll stay that way for a while,” Stephanie Link, Hightower’s chief investment strategist and portfolio manager, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “And it’s really because we’re dealing with so many unknowns.” The wholesale inventories report will be issued at 10 a.m. Friday on the economic front.

Investors are also anticipating the start of earnings season, which will begin next week with reports from five major financial institutions. On Wednesday, JPMorgan will release its earnings report before the market opens. Before the markets open on Thursday, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo will report.