US pre-open: Futures point to early gains following Fed decision

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday after the Federal Reserve indicated that it would soon begin an aggressive tapering of its bond-buying programme and signalled three interest rate hikes were on the horizon for 2022.

As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.62%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.68% and 0.70% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed 383.25 points higher on Wednesday, reversing losses recorded in the previous session after the central bank's announcement.

The Fed said it would begin dialling back the pace of its asset purchases in January by purchasing just $60.0bn worth of bonds each month, down from $90.0bn in December, following recent inflation data that showed a 6.8% surge in November - much higher than expected by economists and the fastest print on record since 1982.

Market participants were also looking out for policy decisions from the European Central Bank and Bank of England.

IG's Chris Beauchamp said: "With the Fed out of the way and then two probably uneventful central bank meetings around lunchtime today markets have moved back into risk-on mode, with the December rally kicking in almost precisely on schedule. The overwhelming feeling appears to be that of relief that the Fed's plan for the year is now in the public sphere, giving investors something to work with as they look ahead to the next twelve months. After all, you only raise rates when the economy is improving, so there is still a case to be made for being long equities. Neither the BoE nor the ECB will do very much today, which perhaps accounts for why markets appear to be discounting them already."

On the macro front, November building permits data, the Philly Fed's December manufacturing index and the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report will all be published at 1330 GMT, while industrial production figures for November and a flash reading of IHS Markit's manufacturing index will follow at 1415 GMT and 1445 GMT, respectively.

In the corporate space, Adobe will update on recent trading before the open, while FedEx and Scholastic will report after the close.