Pre-Bell|U.S. Futures Waves Ahead Fed Rate Decision, Powell Comments; GameStop and Virgin Orbit Skyrocket
@Tiger_Newspress:
U.S. stock index futures waved on Wednesday, ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting in which the central bank will seek to balance inflation and banking sector concerns.Traders have halved the size of the expected interest rate hike to 25 basis points following troubles in the banking sector, with analysts saying a pause was unlikely as it would indicate the turmoil had rattled the Fed.The U.S. central bank's two-day policy meeting will end at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), with investors keenly awaiting Fed Chair Jerome Powell's conference at 2:30 p.m. ET to gauge the central bank’s rate-hike trajectory.Market SnapshotAt 07:51 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 8 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.75 points, or 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 21 points,