By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. Stock futures were slightly lower in early APAC deals on Wednesday after major benchmark indexes rallied during regular trade, with oil prices tumbling below $100 while investors awaited the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting.
During regular trading on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 599.1 points or 1.8% to 33,544.35, the S&P 500 added 89.32 points or 2.14% to 4,262.44 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite gained 367.4 points or 2.92% to 12,948.62.
Dow Jones Futures lost 0.14%, S&P 500 Futures were down 0.16% and Nasdaq 100 Futures eased 0.07%.
Among stocks, technology companies surged as Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) rallied 8.69%, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) added 3.89%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) lifted 3.87%, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) added 2.89%, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) gained 2.97%, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) lifted 2.58% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) surged 6.92%.
Financial heavyweights also gained with JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) up 1.77%, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) gaining 0.73%, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) up 1.62%, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) adding 0.5%, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) up 1.9% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) gaining 1.29%.
Meanwhile, oil-related companies sank as Crude oil prices cooled further, with Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) down 1.91%, Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) falling 5.69%, Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) down 5.06% and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) losing 1.55%.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were steady at 32-month highs of 2.149%
In other news, President Joe Biden signed a government funding bill that included $US13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine, while Russia is expected to likely default on its debt for the first time in decades as it nears a Wednesday deadline for two payments.
Meantime, market participants remain cautious amid a fresh coronavirus outbreak situation in China, where one of the country’s largest manufacturing hubs has shut down due to the worst spike in infections since 2020.