All eyes on Fed rate decision
U.S. futures look set to open slightly lower on Wednesday as investors await the outcome of a Federal Open Market Committee meeting that is widely expected to deliver a further 25 basis point cut in policy rates.
The central bank is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, followed by Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
At 5:21 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures were down 29 points, or about 0.11% to 27,081. Futures on the broader S&P 500 dropped 3.88 points, or around 0.13% to 3,004.12, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 pointed to a decline of 11.12 points, or roughly 0.14% to 7,903.38.
FedEx misses on earnings, lowers profit guidance as trade war and split with Amazon bites
Shares of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) are tumbling after the delivery giant fell short of profit expectations for its fiscal first quarter and trimmed its full-year profit outlook on Wednesday.
The company cited “increasing trade tensions” that are hurting global economic growth, as well as the loss of a “large customer,” presumably Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).
Memphis-based FedEx posted adjusted earnings of $800 million, or $3.05 a share, in the quarter. That compares with adjusted earnings of $933 million, or $3.46 a share, in the same period last year.
Analysts had called for adjusted earnings of $3.15 per share, according to Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $17.05 billion, slightly above Wall Street’s expectations for revenue of $17.06 billion.
FedEx now expects earnings of between $10.00 to $12.00 per share for its fiscal year 2020. Shares of the company plunged 11.71% to change hands at $153 apiece in premarket trade.
Oil prices stabilize as Saudi Arabia promises to return its output to normal
Oil prices retreated early Wednesday after Saudi Arabia pledged to return its oil output to normal by the end of this month. The country has also already restored half the production lost in last weekend’s drone attacks on two key facilities, according to Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz.
At 5:21 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $0.37, or 0.63%, to $58.73 per barrel. Meanwhile, international Brent crude oil futures were at $64.08 a barrel, down $0.47, or about 0.73%.
