Futures contracts trade cautiously higher despite inflation concerns

US equity futures are traded cautiously, looking for direction.

The main forward indices suggest a gain of 0.1% at the opening.

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Shares fell on Wednesday as investors weighed the possibility that inflation could prompt central banks to adjust their ultra-low interest rate policies, despite assurances from the Federal Reserve chairman.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress on Tuesday that the Fed saw no need to change its policy of keeping interest rates extremely low, noting that the economic recovery “remains uneven and far away. to be complete ”.

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Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, investors have pushed Big Tech’s stock prices to stratospheric heights, betting that quarantined consumers would do most of their shopping online and spend more on entertainment devices and services.

The bet has mostly paid off. But the pandemic may be coming to an end, with millions of vaccines administered weekly in the United States and around the world now. This can cause consumers to revert to their pre-pandemic habits.

In Europe, London’s FTSE rose 0.1%, Germany’s DAX rose 0.8%, and France’s CAC gained 0.3%.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.6%, Hong Kong led the decline, losing 3%, and China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 2%.

The Hong Kong government has announced $ 15.4 billion in pandemic relief measures to help the territory recover from the blow to its economy, which contracted 6.1% last year.

On the earnings front, a handful of retailers will release quarterly figures on Wednesday; Lowe’s, TJX Companies and Overstock.com are ahead of the opening bell, with Victoria’s Secret parent L Brands posting after the close. On the media side, we’ll hear from Sinclair Broadcast Group in the morning and ViacomCBS in the afternoon.

On the economic calendar, the Census Bureau is expected to say that sales of new single-family homes rose 2.1% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 855,000.

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A wave of late-afternoon buying on Wall Street on Tuesday helped reverse most tech-driven selling, pushing the S&P 500 to its first gain after a five-day losing streak.

The benchmark index posted a gain of 0.1% to 3,881.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose 0.1% to 31,537.35. The Nasdaq lost 0.5% to 13,465.20. The indices were at record levels less than two weeks ago.

Teleprinter	security	Latest	Change	% Change
I: DJI	MEDIUM DOW JONES	31,537.35	+15.66	+ 0.05%
SP500	S&P 500	3881.37	+4.87	+ 0.13%
I: COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	13465.198124	-67.85	-0.50%

More generally, investors remain focused on the future of global economies hard hit by COVID-19 and the potential for additional stimulus measures to address them. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on President Biden’s proposed stimulus package by the end of the week. It would include 1,400 checks to most Americans, additional payments for children and billions of dollars in aid to state and local governments as well as additional help to businesses affected by the pandemic.

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In other trades, the US benchmark crude added 28 cents to $ 61.95 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 3 cents Tuesday to $ 61.67 a barrel. Brent, the international standard, gained 38 cents to $ 65.75 a barrel.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.