Fed minutes, Threads unveiling, Yellen's China visit - what's moving markets
Investing.com — Minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting fuel expectations that the central bank will likely hike interest rates at its July gathering. Elsewhere, Meta launches its new social media platform Threads as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg takes aim at Elon Musk's Twitter, while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen heads to China in a bid to ease tensions between Washington and Beijing.
1. U.S. futures inch lower
U.S. stock futures pointed lower on Thursday, with investors digesting minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting that suggested some policymakers may be in favor of further interest rate hikes (see below).
At 05:00 ET (09:00 GMT), the Dow futures contract lost 144 points or 0.42%, S&P 500 futures shed 17 points or 0.39%, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped by 62 points or 0.41%.
The main indices on Wall Street posted modest declines Wednesday in their return from the Fourth of July holiday. The broad-based Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.38%, while the benchmark S&P 500 fell by 0.20%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dipped by 0.18%.
Second-half trading kicked off earlier this week. Stock markets in the U.S. performed strongly in the opening six months of the year thanks in part to excitement over developments in artificial intelligence, which helped mitigate fears over the outlook for the global economy.
2. More rate hikes ahead?
The Federal Reserve's policy tightening campaign may have been paused last month but, if the minutes from the central bank's June gathering are any indication, it may be about to resume soon.
Policymakers widely backed the move to keep borrowing costs temporarily steady, the minutes released on Wednesday showed. The decision ended a string of rate hikes at ten
Read more on investing.com
