Editor’s Note: The future prices of benchmark tracking ETFs, the lede, and the latest economic releases were updated in the story.
U.S. stock futures were swinging on Wednesday following Tuesday’s negative moves. Futures of major benchmark indices were mixed.
Based on the latest data, both housing starts and building permits saw a decline in August. Housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,307,000, which is an 8.5% drop from the revised July estimate and a 6.0% decrease from August 2024.
Similarly, building permits, an indicator of future construction, were at a rate of 1,312,000, down 3.7% from July and 11.1% from the previous year.
President Donald Trump arrived in Britain on Tuesday evening for his second state visit, greeted with royal pageantry and the announcement of a multibillion-dollar U.S. technology investment in the United Kingdom.
Investors await the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee’s decision, scheduled to be announced by this afternoon.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.01% and the two-year bond was at 3.50%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 100% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates today.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.04% |
| S&P 500 | -0.01% |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.02% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.06% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, fell in premarket on Wednesday. The SPY was down 0.033% at $659.78, while the QQQ declined 0.014% to $591.10, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session
Sectors with the biggest losses on Tuesday included utilities, real estate, and information technology, contributing to a mostly lower close for U.S. stocks. Bucking the trend, consumer discretionary and energy stocks closed higher.
The Federal Reserve’s expected cut on Wednesday would be the first reduction since December 2024 as it arrives with stock market indexes hovering near all-time highs.
Positive economic data showed U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% month-over-month in August, topping expectations, while U.S. industrial …