Investing.com - US stock futures showed slightly positive performance during Wednesday's evening trade. This comes after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested that a rate cut in March is not on the cards.
By 6:35 pm ET (11:35 pm GMT) Dow Jones Futures were stable while S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq 100 Futures added 0.1% and 0.2% apiece.
In after-hours trading, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), the chipmaker, eased 0.4% despite reporting EPS of $2.75 versus $2.37 expected on revenues of $9.92 billion versus $9.49 billion expected.
MetLife Inc (NYSE:MET) fell 2.9% after the company reported EPS of $1.83 versus $1.93 expected on revenues of $19.03 billion versus $18.46 billion expected.
Aflac Inc (NYSE:AFL) shed 3.2% after reporting EPS of $1.25 versus $1.45 expected, while revenues came in at $3.8 billion versus $4.39 billion expected.
During Wednesday's regular session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 317 points or 0.8%, marking its worst day since December. The S&P 500 fell by 1.6%, its worst performance since September, while the Nasdaq Composite experienced a 2.2% loss, its steepest since October.
The market's downturn was primarily driven by Powell's post-meeting conference, during which he dashed investor hopes for a rate cut as early as March, leading to a tumble in equities.
Despite the recent losses, all major indexes closed January positively, with each rising more than 1% for the month.
In terms of economic data, investors will be focusing on weekly jobless claims, the ISM manufacturing PMI, and construction spending reports due on Thursday. The January jobs report is set to be released on Friday.
Investors will also be keeping a close eye on the latest results from Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK), Peloton Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:PTON), and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL), which are due before the market opens on Thursday. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) are set to report their results after the market close.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 3.916%.