Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 18, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images
U.S. S&P 500 futures fell slightly Wednesday night after the S&P 500 rose for a second day.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.19% and 0.32%, respectively. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 73 points, or 0.18%.
Micron shares slipped 5% in extended trading after the chipmaker issued fourth-quarter revenue guidance in line with estimates, even as the company beat third-quarter expectations. Levi Strauss dropped 12% after the jeans maker’s latest quarterly revenue disappointed investors.
Bank stocks were in focus after the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the biggest U.S. firms are able to withstand a severe recession scenario. Goldman Sachs shares slid 1.7%, while JPMorgan Chase shares rose slightly.
During the regular session Wednesday, the S&P 500 closed up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 15.64 points, or 0.04%.
Stocks are in a holding pattern as Wall Street awaits the latest inflation data on Friday with the release of May’s personal consumption expenditures price index. Investors hope the report will show easing pricing pressures that could cement the likelihood the Fed will lower interest rates later this year.
Even with the sluggish trading activity, megacap tech names continued to outperform on Wednesday, bouncing back from a recent slide. On Wednesday, Amazon shares reached an all-time high, breaching $2 trillion in market capitalization for the first time.
Still, investors are deliberating whether the artificial intelligence trade can continue to sustain markets in the back half of this year, or if the rally will need to broaden out. Strategists surveyed by CNBC Pro anticipate the S&P 500 will likely end the year not even 1% higher from current levels.
“Right now, we’re in this environment where the market is sort of aligned with the Fed,” Brian Levitt, global market strategist at Invesco, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday. “And what you’ll need likely is greater expectation coming into this market that the inflation story is really behind us, that the Fed can lower rates, and the soft landing happens.”
Corporate earnings continue Thursday with releases from Walgreens Boots Alliance and Nike.
On the economic front, traders will also watch for the latest reading of weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders and pending home sales.
