Wall Street inched higher in Tuesday’s premarket as the Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day meeting to make a decision on interest rate policy, according to the Associated Press. It’s also one of the busiest weeks of corporate earnings season, and a flurry of economic data is streaming in.
Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked up 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.4%.
UnitedHealth Group shares slipped 4% after the company missed Wall Street’s second-quarter earnings expectations and disappointed investors with its updated profit forecast.
Union Pacific added 1.2% in premarket after it offered up details on its bid to merge with Norfolk Southern that would create the U.S.’s first transcontinental railroad.
Norfolk Southern shares fell 3%.
Novo Nordisk, which makes the weight loss drug Wegovy, slid 24% in premarket trading after the company cut its sales and operating profit for the year.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude was unchanged at $66.71 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 5 cents to $69.37 per barrel.
