U.S. equities were poised to open with small gains on Monday, in a week likely to be dominated by the Federal Reserve’s and other central banks’ interest-rate decisions.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 16 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were also up 0.1%.
On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee will announce its monetary-policy decision. While traders firmly expect no change in the fed-funds rate, currently at 5.25% to 5.50%, the announcement will be watched for clues as to the Fed’s future path, particularly the potential for another increase this year and the trajectory for 2024.
“You’d be hard pressed to find someone who thinks [the Fed will] hike this week but our expectation is that they keep the door open for another hike later this year, which the dot plot will continue to reflect,” wrote Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid in a research note.
Elsewhere, market attention is likely to center on the initial public offering of Maplebear, the parent company of online-grocery delivery services Instacart, due to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Tuesday. After the successful listing of chip-design firm Arm Holdings last week, confidence has been bolstered in the market for tech IPOs.