U.S. stock index futures were higher on Wednesday, as traders waited for the Federal Reserve's final rate decision of the year and signals on whether policymakers will take a more cautious stance in 2025.
The Fed is widely expected to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points at its meeting. The announcement is expected at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Market Snapshot
At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 145 points, or 0.33%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 18 points, or 0.29%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 60 points, or 0.27%.
Pre-Market Movers
Tesla - Tesla was down 1.8% in premarket trading after closing atanother record highTuesday, rising 3.6% to $479.86. The stock has gained 93% this year andhas risen more than 90% since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president on Nov. 5, with Wall Street seeing CEO Elon Musk’s relationship with Trump benefiting the electric-vehicle maker.
Nvidia - Nvidia, the leading maker of artificial-intelligence chips, rose 2.9% in premarket trading after falling 1.2% on Tuesday. The stock fell to $130.39 on Tuesday andhas dropped about 15% from its intraday record high. The company announced Tuesday it was introducing a $249 version of its Jetson computer for artificial-intelligence applications, down from $499.
Quantum Computing - Quantum Computing shares jumped another 15% in premarket trading. The shares soared 51.5% on Tuesday after the integrated photonics and quantum optics firm announced that it had received a contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center for its imaging technology.
Micron Technology - Micron rose 1.7% ahead of fiscal first-quarter earnings from the largest U.S. maker of memory chips. Analysts expect Micron to report adjusted earnings of $1.76 a share in the period on revenue of $8.7 billion. Investors will be monitoring progress in Micron’s AI memory business. The stock has risen 27% this year.
Nukkleus - Nukkleus shares surged another 35% in premarket trading on Wednesday after soaring 755% Tuesday on defense sector pivot. The company announced yesterday a strategic acquisition that marks its entry into the defense sector.
Oklo Inc. - Oklo Inc.'s stock surged 12% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, following the announcement of a landmark strategic relationship with Switch, a leading data center company, to deploy 12 gigawatts of advanced nuclear power.
Rivian - Rivian Automotive fell 1% to $14.56. Analysts at Baird downgraded shares of the electric-vehicle company to Neutral from Outperform and reduced their price target to $16 from $18.
Rezolve AI - Rezolve AI shares jumped another 23% in premarket trading on Wednesday after soaring 55% on Tuesday. U.K.-based Rezolve AI Limited’s stock was soaring more than 18 times its average volume on Tuesday, attracting retail attention.
Honda, Nissan Motor - Japanese auto makers Honda and Nissan confirmed they were exploring a mergeror other future collaboration. No final decision has been made, they said. Nikkei Asia reported Tuesday that the two auto makers had begun merger talks. The two companies had announced in March that they had started a “feasibility study or strategic partnership.” U.S.-listed shares of Honda were down 3.1%. Nissan shares jumped 11% on Tuesday after the report on the merger discussions first surfaced.
General Mills - General Mills stock sank 5.2% in premarket trading after the packaged-food company reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings but lowered its fiscal-year outlook.
Heico - Heico was down 4.4% after the maker of products for the aviation, space, defense, medical, telecommunications, and electronics industries, reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue up 8.2% from a year earlier to $1.01 billion but below analysts’ estimates of $1.03 billion. Earnings in the quarter of 99 cents a share beat estimates of 98 cents.
CommScope - CommScope Holding, the provider of infrastructure solutions for communications networks, rose 11.4% in premarket trading. The company closed a comprehensive refinancing with its first-lien secured lenders that will allow CommScope to address upcoming 2025 and 2026 debt maturities.
Market News
Fed Set to Deliver Third-Straight Interest Rate Cut
Federal Reserve officials are likely to lower borrowing costs for a third-straight meeting this week while also signaling fewer interest-rate cuts next year than previously projected.
The US economy has proved more resilient than what officials expected just a few months ago. Recent data shows inflation is coming down more slowly than officials anticipated, and the labor market is not weakening as much as feared.
That revised outlook could prompt officials to tweak the language in their post-meeting policy statement on Wednesday and raise the projected path of borrowing costs.
Honda, Nissan Move to Deepen Ties, Sources Say, Including Possible Merger
Honda and Nissan are in talks to deepen ties, two people said on Wednesday, including a possible merger, the clearest sign yet of how Japan's once seemingly unbeatable auto industry is being reshaped by challenges from Tesla and Chinese rivals.
A combined Honda and Nissan would create a $54 billion company with annual output of 7.4 million vehicles, making it the world's third-largest auto group by vehicle sales after Toyota and Volkswagen.
The two firms had already forged a strategic partnership in March to cooperate in electric vehicle development, but Nissan's deepening financial and strategic trouble in recent months has added more urgency for closer cooperation with larger rival Honda.
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