Nasdaq, Dow futures inch up with focus on Fed

NEW YORK: Nasdaq and Dow futures ticked higher on Tuesday as investors switched focus to the first interest rate decision under new Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh, while SpaceX extended its post-IPO run for a third day.

Tech stocks were a bright spot in premarket trading, with shares of SpaceX climbing 9.7%, putting the space and AI giant on course to overtake Amazon in market value and become the world’s fifth‑largest company.

The Elon Musk-led company said it would acquire software firm Anysphere for US$60 billion in a bid to ramp up its presence in the enterprise AI market.

Memory chip stocks also jumped, with Micron Technology up 3.5%, while Western Digital and Seagate Technology added 9.1% and 7.7%, respectively.

The blue-chip Dow closed at a record high on Monday after US President Donald Trump said a preliminary agreement to end the conflict had been signed by the US and Iran, sending oil prices sharply lower and easing concerns about inflation.

Still, doubts swirled around the deal as shippers said it could take weeks for confidence to return after any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Fed is widely expected to hold interest rates at the 3.50%-3.75% range at the end of its policy meeting on Wednesday, with investors closely watching Warsh’s comments on inflation, unemployment and the economic outlook, potentially market-moving words of the world’s most important central banker.

“Markets are eagerly awaiting Kevin Warsh’s debut as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) chair.

“Since the last meeting, markets went from thinking about rate cuts to thinking about rate hikes,” said Nate Hyde, senior portfolio manager at Insight Investment.

“But now with a deal agreed, it will likely give Warsh the opportunity to take a more dovish tone than he would have last week.”

Inflation, in particular, seems stuck more than a percentage point above the Fed’s 2% target, and Warsh’s characterisation of whether and when it is likely to fall will be a key first step in the evolution of monetary policy under his leadership.

Traders see a 42% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike in December, as per CME Group’s FedWatch tool, with rate cuts seen coming only after mid-2027.

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high earlier on Tuesday, as it focused on taming price pressures from the energy shock caused by the Iran war.

At 7.06am, Dow E-minis were up 50 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 2.5 points, or 0.03%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 73.25 points, or 0.24%.

The benchmark S&P 500 was also closing in on early June record highs after a slump driven by concerns about high valuations in the technology sector and the US-Iran conflict.

Wells Fargo raised its 2026 year-end target for the S&P 500 to 7,950 on corporate earnings strength and a preliminary US-Iran deal.

Qualcomm rose 6.1% after the Information reported that the chipmaker was in talks to acquire AI chip startup Tenstorrent for US$8 billion to US$10 billion.

Shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment tumbled 16% after the entertainment firm missed analysts’ expectations for first-quarter earnings and revenue.

Robinhood was up 2.1% after the trading platform said it would cut 10% of its full-time workforce and close remaining open roles.