Fed minutes in focus
U.S. stocks were on course to open lower on Wednesday after closing mixed in the previous session, as traders await minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting.
At around 5:30 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were indicated 72 points, or 0.23% lower to 30,864. S&P 500 futures lost 10 points, or 0.26% to 3,824 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 31.75 points, or 0.27% to 11,776.75.
The Fed will publish minutes from its June 14-15 policy-setting meeting today at 2 p.m. ET, giving traders an opportunity to look for some insights related to the upcoming rate hike and how policymakers plan to handle inflation.
At the June meeting, Fed policymakers raised interest rates by 75 basis points (bps), the biggest U.S. rate hike since 1994.
JOLTs job openings, ISM non-manufacturing PMI on tap
Traders will also be closely watching May’s JOLTs job openings and June’s ISM non-manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) reading, both of which are due at 10 a.m. ET.
The Institute for Supply Management is expected to publish new PMI showing that economic activity among U.S. services providers slowed last month.
Meanwhile, economists expect the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for May to show slight drop in job openings after a notable decline in April.
Amazon acquires stake in Grubhub
Amazon (AMZN) has agreed to buy a stake in food delivery service Grubhub and its Prime members will have access to the service for a year.
In press release published on Wednesday, Amazon said Prime subscribers in the U.S. can enjoy a free, one-year Grubhub+ membership with no food-delivery fees on eligible orders.
The offer will be available to Prime subscribers in more 4,000 cities, with hundreds of thousands of restaurants across the U.S. on orders above $12.
In return, Amazon will receive a 2% stake in Grubhub, and an additional 13% stake conditional on the deal bringing Grubhub more customers.