
US stock futures marched higher on Wednesday as Wall Street waited for the latest Federal Reserve minutes to provide hints to future policy amid a shutdown-driven dearth of data.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) turned roughly 0.2% higher on the heels of a losing day for the major gauges. Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and the tech-dominated Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) also moved up around 0.2%.
Meanwhile, gold (GC=F) futures continued their record-breaking rally after topping $4,000 per ounce for the first time on Tuesday. Investors have piled into the haven asset as a “debasement trade” alternative to the dollar.
Caution is seeping into markets as the AI trade loses its fizz, as questions emerge about AI spending and a potential dot-com-style bubble in stocks. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq (^IXIC) snapped a seven-day run of gains on Tuesday amid doubts over cloud profit outlook at Oracle (ORCL).
At the same time, the federal stoppage continued to breed uncertainty, with no end to the gridlock in sight as President Trump threatens to withhold back pay for furloughed government workers.
The shutdown, which is entering its seventh day, has deprived Wall Street and the Federal Reserve of the crucial economic data needed to shape their thinking.
Later today, investors get minutes from the Fed’s September meeting, when it switched to lowering interest rates for the first time in 2025. The watch is on for any risk to expectations for two more cuts this year, as policymakers remain divided on policy and Wall Street frets at the lack of data inputs to help set rate-cut expectations.
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