Stock futures muted
U.S. stock futures were little changed early Wednesday, a day after the Dow jumped more than 400 points, following reports that Russia is withdrawing some troops from the Ukraine border.
President Biden said Tuesday that his administration had not verified the reports, warning that Russian troops that “an invasion remains distinctly possible” and remain “very much in a threatening position.”
As of writing, futures to the Dow were marked 11 points, or 0.03% to 34,893. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5.25 points, or 0.04% to 14,614.75 while S&P 500 futures were unchanged.
On Tuesday, the Dow rallied 422.67 points, or 1.22% to end the session at 34,988.84. The S&P 500 closed 1.58% higher at 4,471.07 and the Nasdaq gained 348.84 points, or 2.53% to finish at 14,139.76.
Fed minutes, retail sales data on tap
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is set to publish the minutes from its latest policy meeting at 2 p.m. ET.
The central bank left interest rates unchanged at its Jan. 25-26 meeting and said it is likely to hike them in March.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell that with inflation worsening, the central plans to steadily clamp down on credit and end its pandemic-era bond buying program this year.
Traders are also awaiting January retail sales data, due to be released by the U.S. Census Bureau at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Economists expect to retail sales to rise by 1.6% on a monthly basis last month following December’s dismal drop of 1.9%.
Roblox slumps on Q4 earnings miss
Roblox (NYSE: RBLX) shares sank in premarket trading hours on Wednesday after the company posted disappointing financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter.
The social-gaming company said after markets closed Tuesday that it has a loss of 25 cents per share and $568 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Analysts expected Roblox to report a loss of 14 cents per share and revenue of $604 million.
Roblox is a key player in the metaverse as the company continues to reimagine the way people interact through shared experiences.
The company said its daily active users grew 33% on a year-over-year basis to 49.5 million in the quarter. Total hours of engagement jumped 28% from the year-ago period to 10.8 billion.
As of writing, Roblox stock was indicated $11.79, or 16.08% lower to $61.51.
