US markets today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures indicate gap-up open ahead of US Fed’s policy outcome; stocks to watch

US equity market index futures indicate a gap-up opening on Wednesday, September 16, as all eyes await the Federal Reserve’s key monetary policy outcome, which will decide the benchmark interest rates for the US economy amid positive momentum from the Asian markets.

Dow Jones futures were trading 0.22% higher at 52,650 points ahead of the opening bell on September 16, indicating a more than 550-point higher open in comparison to the previous Wall Street close.

The exchange data also showed that the S&P 500 index futures were trading 0.26% higher at 7,676 points ahead of the market open on September 16, indicating a 90-point higher opening on Wednesday’s market.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were trading 0.47% higher at 29,281.25 points ahead of the US stock market open on Sept 16, indicating an over 340-point higher opening amid positive momentum from the Asian markets.

Key things to watch before US market opens

US stocks to watch on September 16

US Fed meeting outcome in focus

The US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is set to announce the outcome of its two-day key monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, September 16, as per the official schedule.

Fed’s FOMC will announce its outcome via an official statement at 2:00 pm (ET) in the United States, which will be at 11:30 pm (IST) for people tracking from India.

The Federal Reserve’s outcome will be followed by an official press conference with Chairman Kevin Warsh at 2:30 pm (ET), which will be 12 am (IST) as per the official schedule.

CME Group’s FedWatch suggests that there is a 92.5% chance that the US central bank may hike the interest rate by 25 basis points to the range of 3.75% to 4.00% in the upcoming outcome, while there is a 7.5% chance of keeping the rates unchanged.

Asian markets today

The Asian market benchmark indices ended higher after their trading session on Wednesday, September 16, as stocks were recovering from massive sell-off pressure, which has been dragging the equities this week despite higher oil prices and elevated US Treasury yields.

MarketWatch data showed that Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.69% higher, Hang Seng ended 0.19% higher, China’s Shanghai Composite ended 0.71% higher, India’s SENSEX ended 0.45% higher, while South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1.37% on Wednesday’s market.

Oil price check

Global crude oil prices surged to an intraday high of $109.08 per barrel (bbl) on Wednesday’s market, as commodity market investors focused on the US Senate’s vote to end the war efforts with Iran amid no signs of de-escalation in the region.

Latest report from CNN suggests that this marks the third time that the US Senate, led by Democrats, has directed President Donald Trump to withdraw troops from West Asia. While a total of seven Republicans backed the measure, three new ones joined this time’s vote.

Investing.com data showed that global benchmark Brent crude oil prices surged 6% in the last five days and were up 21% in the last one-month period. Energy prices have risen 36% in the past three months and are up 11% in last six months.

As of 4:53 pm (IST) on Wednesday’s market, Brent crude oil prices were trading 1.43% lower at $107.19 per bbl, compared to $108.75 per bbl at the previous commodity market close, as per the exchange data.

How did US markets end on Tuesday?

The US equity market indices ended lower after the trading session on Tuesday, September 15, as investors focused on elevated global crude oil prices, rising Treasury yields and placing their pre-FOMC policy bets.

MarketWatch data showed that the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.63% lower at 52,093.11 points after the trading session on Tuesday, compared to 52,421.20 points at the previous equity market close.

The exchange data showed that the S&P 500 index closed 0.45% lower at 7,585.73 points after the trading session on September 15, in comparison to 7,619.98 points at the previous Wall Street close.

Nasdaq 100 index ended 0.65% lower at 28,937.84 points after the trading session on Tuesday’s market, in comparison to 29,127.16 points at the previous US equity market close, as per the data.