U.S. stock futures were higher on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on monetary policy as stocks try to snap out of their September slump.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hiked 191 points, or 0.6%, to 33,989.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 23.5 points, or 0.5%, to 4,366.75
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite Index climbed 47.5 points, or 0.3%, to 15,071.50.
At the center of investor concerns is embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande, which is facing a possible default if it can’t make millions of dollars in debt payments on U.S. dollar-denominated bonds this week.
Evergrande’s shares in Hong Kong are down nearly 90% since July 2020 as China cracks down on real estate speculation. Investors worry about a step down in global economic growth if China slows their property market too much or lets Evergrande fail.
Helping sentiment overnight was word from Evergrande that its real estate group would pay the interest on time on a mainland-traded bond denominated in yuan.
Commodity-related stocks led the comeback in pre-market trading Wednesday as fears eased about ripple effects from Evergrande. Dow, Freeport-McMoRan, Occidental Petroleum and Exxon were all early winners. China exposed Wynn Resorts bounced more than 1%.
FedEx shares tumbled 5% in pre-market trading after profit fell at the shipper last quarter because of rising labor costs. FedEx also cut its forecast for the full year.
The Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday and release a policy statement with economic and interest rate forecasts at 2 p.m. E.T. Chairman Jerome Powell will then hold a press conference after.
The central bank has the difficult task of soothing markets during a tumultuous month, while at the same time preparing investors for the removal of some monetary stimulus. Powell has previously said a tapering of the Fed’s emergency $120 billion in bond buying could begin as soon as this year.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 doffed 0.7%, while markets in Hong Kong were shuttered for holiday.
Oil prices took on 95 cents to $71.44 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dipped $5.60 to $1,772.60 U.S. a pound.
