U.S. Stocks May Extend Recent Advance Ahead Of Fed Decision

(RTTNews) - After moving notably higher over the past several sessions, stocks may see continued strength in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.2 percent.

Nvidia (NVDA) may continue to lead the markets higher, as the AI darling is surging by 3.6 percent in pre-market trading and closing in on becoming the first company with a $5 trillion market capitalization.

Shares of Nvidia spiked by 5.0 percent on Tuesday after the chipmaker announced deals with several big-name companies, including a strategic partnership with Nokia (NOK) that includes a $1 billion investment in the Finnish networking firm.

The upward momentum on Wall Street also comes amid optimism ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement later this afternoon.

With the Fed widely expected to lower interest rates by another quarter point, traders will be looking to the accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments for clues about the likelihood of further rate cuts.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 87.0 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by another quarter point in December, but the views about the chances of further rate cuts in early 2026 are more mixed.

Shortly after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on pending home sales in the month of September. Pending home sales are expected to jump by 1.0 percent in September after surging by 4.0 percent in August.

Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Tuesday but largely maintained a positive bias and ended the day mostly higher. The major averages added to the strong gains posted during Monday's session, once again reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages pulled back off their highs in late-day trading but still closed in positive territory. The Nasdaq advanced 190.04 points or 0.8 percent to 23,827.49, the Dow climbed 161.78 points or 0.3 percent to 47,706.37 and the S&P 500 rose 15.73 points or 0.2 percent to 6,890.89.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index surged by 2.2 percent and South Korea's Kospi shot up by 1.8 percent, with both indexes reaching new record closing highs.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are both up by 0.1 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are edging down $0.09 to $60.06 a barrel after tumbling $1.16 to $60.15 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $4,041, up $57.90 compared to the previous session's close of $3,968.10. On Tuesday, gold slid $36.60.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 152.24 yen compared to the 152.10 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1632 compared to yesterday's $1.1650.