U.S. Futures Hold Steady Ahead of Powell Speech and PMI Data

U.S. stock index futures traded in a muted fashion on Tuesday, pausing after Wall Street logged a three-day winning streak and fresh record highs.

At 05:55 ET (09:55 GMT), Dow Jones Futures added 85 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures edged up 1 point, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures gained 9 points, or 0.1%.

Wall Street Rally Fueled by Tech

The three major U.S. indices closed at all-time highs on Monday, marking a third consecutive winning session for the S&P 500. Momentum was boosted by news that Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) will invest $100 billion in OpenAI to develop advanced data centers—another sign of accelerating demand in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Powell’s Speech in Focus

Investors now turn their attention to a key speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the session. The Fed last week cut interest rates by 25 basis points and signaled at least two more reductions this year, citing labor market weakness.

Still, Powell warned of sticky inflation risks, while several Fed officials struck a hawkish tone on Monday, suggesting the recent move reduced the urgency for further cuts. By contrast, newly confirmed Governor Stephen Miran called for more aggressive easing.

Markets currently assign a 90% probability of another quarter-point cut in October and about a 75% chance of an additional reduction in December, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

PMI Data to Provide Economic Insight

Beyond Fed commentary, markets will also be watching S&P Global’s flash purchasing managers index (PMI) data for September. Economists expect the composite PMI to remain unchanged at 54.6, signaling solid expansion.

The manufacturing PMI is forecast to dip to 52.2 from 53.0, while the services PMI is projected to edge lower to 54.0 from 54.5. With the services sector driving much of U.S. output, investors will be parsing the numbers closely for signs of slowing momentum.