Futures slip after Fed-driven rally on Wall Street

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpReuters – U.S. stock index futures slipped on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserves less aggressive tone sparked a rally on Wall Street, with investors awaiting jobs data this week for more clues on the path of interest rates.p

pCitigroup slipped 0.7 in premarket trading to lead losses among big banks. Megacap companies slid, with Meta Platforms and Tesla Inc down over 1 each.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pThe benchmark S&P 500 index recorded its biggest oneday percentage gain in nearly two years on Wednesday after the Fed raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point as expected and said it would begin shrinking its 9 trillion asset portfolio next month in an effort to further lower inflation.p

pCalming investors anxiety about aggressive policy tightening, Fed Chair Jerome Powell explicitly ruled out raising rates by 75 basis points in a coming meeting. p

pThe focus shifts to the U.S. Labor Departments closely watched monthly employment report on Friday for clues on labor market strength and its impact on the monetary policy.p

pWorries about Fed policy moves, mixed earnings from some big growth companies, the conflict in Ukraine and pandemicrelated lockdowns in China have hammered Wall Street recently, overshadowing a betterthanexpected quarterly reporting season.p

pThe techheavy Nasdaq has declined 17.1 yeartodate, compared with a 9.8 drop in S&P 500 and a 6.3 fall in the bluechip Dow.p

pOf the 368 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings as of Wednesday, 79.9 have topped analyst expectations. The firstquarter earnings is expected to grow 9.7 yearoveryear.p

pAt 06:53 a.m. ET, Dow eminis were down 133 points, or 0.39, S&P 500 eminis were down 23.5 points, or 0.55, and Nasdaq 100 eminis were down 95.25 points, or 0.7.p

pTwitter Inc rose 2.6 as Elon Musk secured 7.14 billion in funding from a group of investors that includes Oracle Corp cofounder Larry Ellison to fund his 44 billion takeover of the socialmedia company.p

pEBay Inc slid 7.4 after the ecommerce retailer projected downbeat secondquarter revenue as growth slows in the sector after two years of rapid expansion during the pandemic.p

pAlbemarle Corp jumped 14.1 as the lithium producer raised its fullyear forecasts on robust demand and higher prices for the metal used in electricvehicle batteries.p

pU.S.listed shares of Chinas JD.com, NetEase Inc, Pinduoduo and Bilibili Inc fell between 2.4 and 3.8 as the U.S. securities regulator added over 80 firms to a list of entities facing possible expulsion from American exchanges amid a longrunning U.S.China audit standoff.p

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pp Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengalurup

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