Wall Street followed global markets higher before today’s opening bell on potentially encouraging news about interest rates, according to the Associated Press. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.
On Monday, the S&P 500 flipped from losses to gains after two Federal Reserve officials suggested interest rates might be held steady at the next policy meeting. A jump in longer-term bond yields may be helping to cool inflation without further market-rattling hikes by the Fed.
Additionally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today that the world economy is losing momentum in the face of higher interest rates, the war in Ukraine, and widening geopolitical rifts. Global economic growth is forecast to slow to 2.9% in 2024 from an expected 3% this year, the IMF said.
PepsiCo rose 1.1% in premarket trading and beat Wall Street’s profit forecasts as it raised prices by double-digits for the seventh quarter in a row.
Oil prices fell back slightly after surging Monday following Israel’s declaration of war on Hamas after its surprise attack from the Gaza Strip. Early today, U.S. benchmark crude was down 49 cents at $85.89 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 50 cents to $87.65 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 148.70 Japanese yen from 148.51 yen late Monday.
