Futures Point Higher Wednesday Ahead of Rate Decision; Airbnb, Paramount Fall Following Earnings

First Look

Futures point slightly higher Wednesday morning ahead of the Fed rate decision, which is expected to be a fourth consecutive 75 basis point hike. Investors will be monitoring comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell for any hints of a pivot. Apple (AAPL) is down in pre-market after China placed "iPhone City", the area around Foxconn that produces iPhones, on lockdown for seven days following a rise in covid cases. Paramount Global (PARA) is down 8.19% after the company missed earnings and revenue estimates. Paramount+ added 4.6 million subscribers and rose its revenues by 95% year-over-year. Lastly, Airbnb (ABNB) is down 6.27% despite topping estimates as the issued in-line fourth-quarter guidance and said it expects Nights and Experiences Booked growth to moderate slightly next quarter. The Nasdaq is up 0.2%, the S&P is up 0.12%, the Dow Jones is up 0.01%.

Today's Sentiment

Quote of the Day

To break the mold, sometimes you have to start over.
Michael Morhaime

Stocks on the Move

International Markets

Stocks in Asia are mixed. The Hang Seng is up 2.41%, the Shanghai SE Composite Index is up 1.15%, the Australia ASX All Ordinaries is up 0.12% the Nikkei 225 is down -0.06% and the Mumbai Sensex is down -0.35%. Stocks in Europe are down. The CAC 40 is down -0.25%, the FTSE 100 is down -0.24%, the Euro Stoxx 50 is down -0.12% and the DAX is down -0.06%.

Futures & Currencies

Energy futures are up today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is up 0.21 at 88.58 per barrel. Brent crude is up 0.21 at 94.86 per barrel. Natural Gas is up 0.36 at 6.07. Precious metals are up this morning. Gold is up 8.28 at 1556.26 per ounce. Platinum is up 9.24 at 957.64 while silver is up 0.12 at 19.79. The dollar is down compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is down against the euro, down against the Yen and down against the Pound. Bitcoin is down -0.43% to $20,439.06 while Ethereum is down -2.18% to $1,556.37.

Put/Call Ratio

Yesterday, 1,214,260 call contracts traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) compared to 762,412 put contracts. The single-session put/call ratio was 0.63.

Today's Economic Calendar

Earnings Expected Today