US pre-open: Futures in the red ahead of major earnings, Fed rate decision
Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the bell on Wednesday as market participants awaited a rate decision from the Federal Reserve and updates from Apple, Facebook and Tesla later in the day.
As of 1240 GMT, Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were down 0.81% and 1.01%, respectively, while Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.67% weaker.
The Dow closed 22.96 points lower on Tuesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as come major US corporations reported earnings.
While quarterly numbers from Apple, Facebook and Tesla were all undoubtedly on the main ticket on Wednesday, they were far from the only figures on the corporate calendar.
Results from AT&T revealed solid wireless, fibre and HBO Max subscriber gains, while Boeing was expected to post a record quarterly loss before the bell.
Whirlpool and Levi Strauss will also report earnings throughout the course of the day.
IG's Joshua Mahony said: "In a week that has been dominated by questions over the value recovery, it appears to be tech which once again stay the course to continue moving higher. While the vaccination process does raise questions over whether the tech rally is somewhat overcooked, there is no doubt that businesses will continue to lean more heavily on online sales compared with pre-crisis.
Investors will also be keeping a keen eye on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who was scheduled to hold a press conference where he will likely outline how the central bank sees the US' economic outlook.
On the macro front, mortgage application numbers for the week ended 22 January will be released shortly, while December durable goods orders figures will be published at 1330 GMT and the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision was scheduled for 1900 GMT.