Stock future rose slightly; investors weighed recession risk

Stock futures edged up slightly as investors weighed down the risk of a recession after the Federal Reserve’s last meeting.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 45 points, or 0.12%, while S&P 500 futures advanced 0.22%. Nasdaq-100 Futures climbed 0.4% higher.

Stocks ended the regular trading session lower. The S&P 500 ended the day down 0.41%, while the Nasdaq Composite decreased by 0.86%. The Dow concluded the day at 38.28 points, which was a decrease of 0.12% and ended four days of gains.

The key average figure was initially up earlier in the session, following the March consumer price statistics release showing pressures had eased last month. CPI rose 0.1% month-on-month in March and 5% year-on-year.

Traders’ attitudes have changed since the release of the minutes of the March Federal Market Committee meeting. The Fed expects recent banking instability to trigger a recession later this year.

Wall Street is also watching the start of major corporate earnings on Friday, including commercial banks JPMorgan and Citigroup.

Evercore ISI’s senior research manager says that while pressure remains on stocks, price movements are not the main focus of his interest.

European stock markets

European stock markets opened mixed as investors looked into Wednesday’s inflation reports from the US.

The Stoxx 600 index, which covers most of Europe, rose by 0.22%, and most sectors finished the day in the green. Household staples advanced with a 1.82% jump, while oil and gas stocks were the biggest losers at 0.4%.

An analyst at Deutsche Bank downgraded First Solar from hold to buy, noting that shares are high after the stock advanced 38%. Shares of First Solar were down more than 1% in the premarket.