Stock futures point to a positive open
U.S. stock futures posted gains ahead of the open on Wednesday, as traders paid close attention to the escalating war in Ukraine.
Russian troops have reportedly implemented a new strategy of pummeling civilian areas as they attempt to counter Ukrainian resistance.
In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is more isolated from the rest of the world than ever after Western nations slapped Moscow with harsh sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine.
As of 5:10 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow rallied 215 points, or 0.65% to 33,482. S&P 500 futures gained 29.25 points, or 0.68% to 4,333 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 88.5 points, or 0.63% to 14,094.
In energy markets, oil hit an 11-year high on reports OPEC and its allies are likely to commit to modest oil production hikes at their meeting later today.
OPEC and its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, have been producing 400,000 more barrels per day (bpd) each month since August.
Saudi Arabia has so far resisted requests from the U.S. to increase output more quickly than called for under the OPEC+ agreement.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $5.8, or 5.61% to $109.21 a barrel. Global Brent crude futures climbed $5.96, or 5.68% to $110.93 a barrel.
Powell heads to the Hill
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell kicks off two days of hearings on Wednesday, before the House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Lawmakers are likely to grill Powell on the pace of interest rate hikes, the potential economic fallout from Russia-Ukraine confliction, and his view on inflation.
Economists widely expect the central bank to hike interest rates at its monetary policy meeting later this month.
SoFi shares surge on strong outlook
SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) shares are soaring after the fintech company provided a bigger-than-expected full-year 2022 adjusted net revenue guidance.
The company said late Tuesday that it expects adjusted net revenue to grow 55% to $1.57 billion, well above analysts’ estimates of $1.45 billion. SoFi also guided for adjusted EBITDA of $180 million, compared to estimates of $157.1 million.
For its fiscal 2021 fourth quarter, SoFi said it had a loss of 15 cents per share and revenue of $278.8 million. Analysts had called for a loss of 16 cents per share and revenue of $279.3 million.
As of writing, SoFi stock was up 13.48% to $12.71 per share in the pre-market trading session on Wednesday.
