New York, Dec. 7 (BNA): Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday ahead of new employment data and wholesale prices as the Federal Reserve gauged its next move in its struggle to calm inflation.
Dow Jones Industrials futures fell 0.4% and the S&P 500 fell 0.7% an hour before the opening bell, the AP reports.
Stronger-than-expected economic data this week sent US markets lower on speculation that the Federal Reserve will have to remain aggressive with interest rates during its final policy meeting of 2022.
The US will release data on weekly unemployment data on Thursday and on wholesale prices on Friday.
The reports don’t usually move the markets but they do get a lot of attention because they are some final data dumps before next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
On Tuesday, the US released important data on consumer prices, the same day the Federal Reserve opened its two-day meeting.
Most economists expect the Fed to raise interest rates by half a percentage point. It has raised the benchmark interest rate six times since March, pushing it into a range of 3.75% to 4%, the highest rate in 15 years.
Wall Street expects the benchmark price to reach a peak range of between 5% and 5.25% by mid-2023.
Global stocks also fell on Wednesday, with the benchmark Hong Kong index down more than 3%, as Beijing announced it was scaling back its “no COVID” policies.
The price of US crude oil remained unchanged at $74.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international benchmark for pricing, fell 10 cents to $79.25 a barrel.
The dollar rose to 137.38 yen from 136.94 yen. The euro rose to $1.0521 from $1.0468.
Small cap stocks also fell, sending the Russell 2000 down 1.5%. Major indices are on their way to a weekly loss after recording consecutive weekly gains.
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