Stock futures are little changed ahead of Fed's rate decision, consumer inflation data: Live updates

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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on May 17, 2024.

Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

Stock futures oscillated near the flatline Tuesday night as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and May's consumer inflation data.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 9 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures ticked up by 0.04%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.1%.

In extended trading, Oracle jumped 9% as traders fixated on the software maker's newly announced cloud deals with Google and OpenAI, overlooking misses in the company's latest quarter.

During Tuesday's trading, investors' rotation into Apple helped lift the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite to fresh closing highs. The iPhone maker announced its push into artificial intelligence at its developer conference this week, fueling a rally in the stock. The Dow was the outlier of the three major averages, losing 0.31%.

Investors are looking to Wednesday's conclusion of the Fed's two-day policy meeting, which will feature an rate policy decision and a subsequent press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

While the market's pricing indicate that the Fed will maintain its benchmark overnight borrowing rate in a range between 5.25%-5.5%, the market will be watching for central bankers' updates to their Summary of Economic Projections, which could clarify the path for policy. Investors have grown increasingly concerned that the recent strong jobs report and sticky inflation support a higher-for-longer interest rate environment.

"The market will be focused on any mention—within the Fed statement, the dot plot, or Chair Powell's comments—of concerns regarding the labor market, given Powell's remarks that indications of deterioration could prompt the easing of rates," said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.

May's consumer price index print, a broad measure of goods and services costs, will also be released on Wednesday morning. The report is forecasted to show just a 0.1% increase from April and a 3.4% rise on a year-over-year basis.

DoubleLine Gundlach says Fed's dot plot will show 2 cuts for 2024

DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach believes the Federal Reserve's so-called dot plot will show a projection of only two rate cuts for this year, he said in an investor webcast Tuesday after the bell.

That would be down from the previous forecast of three interest rate cuts indicated for 2024.

The dot plot indicates how 19 FOMC members, both voters and nonvoters, expect where rates would be through the end of the year and out to 2026 and beyond.

The noted fixed income investor previously said he sees no more than one interest rate cut this year as the Fed continues to fight inflation.

— Yun Li

Oracle, Rentokil among stocks making biggest after-hours moves

Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading:

  • Oracle — The tech company's shares jumped nearly 9% after it announced cloud deals with Google and OpenAI, despite posting a miss on fiscal fourth-quarter results. Oracle posted adjusted earnings of $1.63 per share on revenue of $14.29 billion, while analysts expected earnings of $1.65 per share on $14.55 billion in revenue.
  • Rubrik — Shares of the cloud data management company advanced 1.4% after beating first-quarter expectations on revenue. Rubrik reported $187 million in revenue for the period, while analysts polled by LSEG anticipated $172 million.
  • Rentokil Initial — Shares in Terminix-parent Rentokil jumped about 7.5% after Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners confirmed it has taken a significant position in the pest-control giant and is currently a top-10 shareholder of the company.

For more, read here.

— Pia Singh

Stock futures open little changed Tuesday night

Stock futures were slightly lower shortly after 6 p.m. ET. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures traded lower by 0.05% and 0.09%, respectively. Dow futures slipped just below the flatline, meanwhile.

— Pia Singh

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