U.S. stocks futures were uneven Wednesday as investors weighed early third quarter corporate results against an upcoming inflation report. The cautious trading followed Tuesday’s pullback, with attention centered on bank earnings, semiconductor demand and the potential path of Federal Reserve policy.
At 4:44 p.m. (Bangkok Time), contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each edged up 0.43% and 0.18% respectively. Meanwhile, Nasdaq-100 futures moved 0.09% lower after the prior session’s decline in equities.
Semiconductor weakness remained a key market concern. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF fell for a sixth consecutive session Tuesday as investors questioned the scale of artificial intelligence spending and monitored competitive pressure from China.
The tone in chip-related trading improved somewhat outside of the U.S. South Korea’s KOSPI rose after losing 12% over the previous five sessions, as selling pressure in semiconductor shares eased. Investors are watching ASML’s quarterly update Wednesday and TSMC’s report Thursday for indications on whether AI-linked demand remains strong.
Financial companies were also in focus as earnings season broadened. Bank of America shares dropped more than 2% in after-hours trading after federal regulators imposed penalties of more than $1.2 billion, alleging the bank failed to report over $5 billion in suspicious transactions.
Results from Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock are next on the earnings calendar. They follow Tuesday reports from major investment-banking firms that pointed to consumer resilience despite elevated interest rates.
Even so, strong bank results did not translate into broad share-price gains. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup both finished lower Tuesday, suggesting investors are demanding more from companies this reporting season. That scrutiny is especially relevant for technology, where semiconductor companies are expected to drive much of the annual earnings growth.
FactSet data shows S&P 500 companies are projected to report blended earnings growth of about 30%. For semiconductors and semiconductor equipment companies, expected growth is roughly 130%.
Inflation data could provide the next major catalyst. Economists expect September headline CPI to rise 3.6% from a year earlier, driven by higher gasoline and energy costs. A stronger-than-expected reading could revive expectations for an October interest rate increase, according to experts.
Oil prices were slightly higher Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate futures gained 0.63% to $94.73, while Brent crude stayed above $105 a barrel as Houthis continued attacks on Saudi energy facilities.
