US stock futures held steady on Tuesday after another record-setting day, as Wall Street waited for the first speech from Chair Jerome Powell since the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates again.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) nudged up 0.2%. Meanwhile, contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) both hovered near the flat line.
Stocks jumped on Monday to clinch a third straight day of record-high closes, lifted by optimism that the AI trade and further Fed policy easing will continue to fuel the rally.
On the Fed-watching side, Powell is scheduled to deliver a speech on monetary policy later Tuesday, in high focus after policymakers last week lowered rates for the first time in 2025.
His comments will set the stage for the release on Friday of the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index. Wall Street will look for signs that already sticky inflation isn’t heating up, which could dent high expectations for two more rate reductions this year.
In the meantime, updates on US manufacturing and services activity in September are on Tuesday’s docket, while Fed official Michelle Bowman is expected to speak.
Gold (GC=F) also climbed to another fresh record high as optimism for Fed rate cuts grows.
On the tech side, the spotlight is on Micron Technology’s (MU) quarterly earnings due after the bell. The chipmaker’s results will be watched for updates on AI-driven demand and revenue guidance, with analysts expecting an almost 40% jump in sales.
On Monday, the Nasdaq (^IXIC) led gains as Nvidia stock surged (NVDA) stock thanks to an $100 billion OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) deal.
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