US pre-open: Futures higher as investors await June PCE reading
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Thursday 31 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - Futures were in the green ahead of the bell on Thursday as market participants continued to digest the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate decision and solid quarterly earnings reports from tech giants Meta Platforms and Microsoft.
As of 1200 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.37%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 1.00% and 1.35% firmer, respectively.
The Dow closed 171.71 points lower on Wednesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session, as the Federal Reserve voted 9-2 to hold its benchmark overnight interest rate steady at an effective rate of 4.3%
The Federal Reserve voted to hold its benchmark overnight interest rate steady at an effective rate of 4.3%, even as Fed governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller dissented. Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank wasn't ready to cut interest rates just yet, despite pressure from the president, as the Fed head seemingly wanted to take a little longer to assess the full impact of Donald Trump's higher tariffs on US inflation.
Traders also parsed Powell's comments at a press conference for insights into the central bank's next move, with the chairman saying that the Fed had "made no decisions" about a potential policy shift come September.
"Our obligation is to keep longer-term inflation expectations well anchored and to prevent a one-time increase in the price level from becoming an ongoing inflation problem," said Powell. "Higher tariffs have begun to show through more clearly to prices of some goods, but their overall effects on economic activity and inflation remain to be seen."
Corporate earnings also drew an amount of attention before the open on Wednesday, with Meta Platforms crushing Q2 earnings expectations despite heightened AI investment, while Microsoft quarterly profits soared by nearly a quarter on the back of improved cloud computing revenues, automaker Ford also posted a Q2 earnings beat but took a $800m hit from tariffs, and Robinhood reported a record quarterly performance as crypto revenues almost doubled.
Thursday's primary focus will likely be June's personal consumption expenditures price index at 1330 BST, with the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge expected to show headline PCE rising 2.5% on an annualised basis and 0.3% month-on-month.
Elsewhere on the macro front, Challenger job cuts numbers will be published at 1230 BST, while weekly initial jobless claims data will be on deck at 1330 BST, and July's Chicago PMI will follow at 1445 BST.
In terms of Thursday's earnings, Comcast, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CVS Health, Shake Shack and Mastercard were all slated to report before the opening bell, while tech giants Amazon and Apple will publish their latest quarterly figures after the close.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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