U.S. stock index futures were mostly flat on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's update on monetary policy.
Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were just 46 points lower. S&P 500 futures were largely flat, while Nasdaq 100 futures traded up by 0.1%.
The Fed has previously tried to assuage concerns that rising inflation would prompt it to tighten its ultra loose monetary policy, but data on Tuesday showing a jump in producer prices has again raised expectations the central bank could begin debating closing the taps at its meeting this week.
The central bank's latest policy statement is expected to be released with fresh economic projections at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).
Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket:
Oracle(ORCL) – Oracleearned $1.54 per sharefor its latest quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 a share. The business software company's revenue topped estimates as well. The company forecast current-quarter profit below consensus, however, as it increases investment in its cloud computing operations. Its shares fell 4.7% in premarket trading.
Roblox(RBLX) – Roblox tumbled 7.7% in the premarket after it reported 43 million daily active users for May, up 28% compared to a year earlier but down from 43.3 million in April. Spending by users of the videogame platform was down slightly from a year earlier.
Kindred Biosciences(KIN) – The pet therapeutics company agreed to be acquired byElanco Animal Health(ELAN) for $9.25 per share, or $440 million. Kindred had closed at $6.34 Tuesday, and its stock surged 44.6% in the premarket.
La-Z-Boy(LZB) – La-Z-Boy reported quarterly earnings of 87 cents per share, compared to a consensus estimate of 74 cents a share. The company best known for its reclining chairs also reported better-than-expected revenue. La-Z-Boy said it was being impacted by supply chain issues and significant increases in raw materials prices. Its shares lost 2.3% in the premarket.
H&R Block(HRB) – H&R Block beat Street forecasts for both profit and revenue in its latest quarter, and the tax preparation firm also raised its quarterly dividend by 4% to 27 cents per share. Additionally, H&R Block is shifting the end of its fiscal year to June 30 from April 30, to better capture tax filing activity. H&R Block shares slid 1.1% in premarket action.
EBay(EBAY) – The online marketplace operator will sell its South Korean unit to retailer Shinsegae's E-Mart unit and website operator Naver for about $3.6 billion, according to local media reports. E-Mart acknowledged the talks but said that no deal had been finalized.
General Motors(GM) – GM reportedly plans to boost global spending on electric and autonomous vehicles by 30% from its most recent forecast to a total of $35 billion through 2025. People briefed on the plans told Reuters that the spending will include two additional U.S. battery plants.
Johnson & Johnson(JNJ) – The Food and Drug Administration cleared 15 million more doses of J&J's Covid-19 vaccine that had been produced at a Baltimore plant run byEmergent Biosolutions(EBS). That brings the total of cleared doses to 25 million. Earlier, the FDA had rejected 60 million doses produced at that plant, saying Emergent hadn't taken proper precautions to prevent cross-contamination with another production line that was producingAstraZeneca's(AZN) Covid vaccine.
Southwest Airlines(LUV) – Southwest suffered its second computer glitch in 24 hoursTuesday, with a system outage leading to the cancellation of about 500 flights and delaying many others.
Dish Network(DISH) – The satellite TV company was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Pivotal Research, which cited the potential for Dish's 5G wireless network. Dish rose 1.7% in the premarket.
Apollo Global(APO) – Apollo sold textbook and educational technology company McGraw Hill to private-equity firm Platinum Equity for $4.5 billion.
Regeneron(REGN) – The drugmaker'sCovid-19 antibody cocktailreduced deaths in patients who could not mount their own antibody response, according to a newly published British study.
SoFi Technologies(SOFI) – The financial services platform was rated "buy" in new coverage at Rosenblatt Securities, noting SoFi's "powerful" cost advantage over legacy banks. SoFi shares rose 2.1% in the premarket.