US stock futures ticked up as Wall Street eyes the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September meeting.
Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) inched up 0.1%, the S&P 500 (ES=F), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) rose 0.2%.
Gold (GC=F) broke records Wednesday night as it breached the $4,000 an ounce mark for the first time. The price has been continually pushed by fears over the US economy during the past year, accelerated by the government shutdown.
The $4,000 price has been hotly watched as it marks a doubling of the value of the precious metal in two years.
Traders are eagerly anticipating Wednesday’s release of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting minutes, which could offer new clues about the central bank’s internal divisions and the outlook for interest rates as the government shutdown deprives policymakers of key economic data.
Last week, the September jobs report wasn’t released as scheduled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figures would normally give investors a sense of the Fed’s next moves, considering the labor market plays a central role in its policy decisions.
In day trading, all three major averages ended lower after reports of weaker-than-expected cloud margins at Oracle fueled fresh concerns about AI. The declines marked the end of a seven-day long winning streak for both the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq (^IXIC).
Meanwhile, the government shutdown, now in its seventh day, continues to breed uncertainty. So far, no end to the gridlock in Washington is in sight with President Trump backing Republicans’ stance that no negotiations will be made with Democrats on the healthcare subsidies they hope to extend until the government is reopened. At the same time, Trump has threatened to withhold back pay for furloughed Federal workers.
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