With traders looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets.
Trading activity may remain somewhat subdued in the lead-up to the announcement from the Fed, which is due at about 2 pm ET, followed by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's accompanying press conference.
The Fed is not expected to announce an immediate change in policy, but traders will be looking for any signals regarding when the central bank will scale back its asset purchase program.
Rob Carnell, chief international economist at ING, said, "The message that the Fed is thinking about scaling back QE before too long has been received loud and clear."
"What markets now want to know is 'exactly how is this likely to proceed?', and until more clarity on that is forthcoming, markets are likely to remain jittery," he added.
A lack of major U.S. economic data ahead of the announcement from the Fed is likely to add to the choppy trading on Wall Street.
Among individual stocks, shares of FedEx (FDX) are likely to be in focus after the delivery giant reported adjusted fourth quarter earnings that came in above analyst estimates. The company also forecast 7 to 13 percent earnings growth in fiscal 2014.
Software maker Adobe Systems (ADBE) is moving notably higher in pre-market trading after reporting better than expected adjusted second quarter earnings. The company also reported revenues for the quarter that fell year-over-year but matched analyst estimates.
Stocks showed a strong upward move over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, adding to the gains posted on Monday. The rally came even as traders expressed some uncertainty ahead of today's announcement from the Fed.
The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but remained firmly in positive territory. The Dow jumped 138.38 points or 0.9 percent to 15,318.18, the Nasdaq advanced 30.05 points or 0.9 percent to 3,482.18 and the S&P 500 climbed 12.77 points or 0.8 percent to 1,651.81.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in another mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged up by 1.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index has edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are down by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are inching up $0.06 to $98.50 a barrel after advancing $0.67 to $98.44 a barrel on Tuesday. An ounce of gold is currently trading at $1,370.70, up $3.80 from the previous session's close of $1,366.90. On Tuesday, gold fell $16.20.
Among currencies, the U.S. dollar is trading at 95 yen compared to the 95.33 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.3398 compared to yesterday's $1.3392.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.