S&P 500 Futures portray cautious optimism ahead of the Fed

S&P 500 Futures stay mildly bid near record top.
Chatters over US President Biden’s stimulus, vaccines entertain traders.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s defensive play will be the key.

Anil Panchal FXStreet

S&P 500 Futures pick-up bids around 4,185, up 0.11% intraday, during early Wednesday. The risk barometer refreshed the record top before marking the first negative closing in three days on Tuesday.

While the hopes of further stimulus from the world’s largest economy, the US, seem to favor the markets optimists of late, uneven updates on the coronavirus (COVID-19) and vaccine developments test the bulls. Also contributing to the less active markets could be the cautious sentiment ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, up for announcement during late US session in the day.

With the latest US Census report signaling a power shift in favor of the Republicans, US President Joe Biden trims hurdles for the present and the future stimulus measures. In doing so, the Democratic Party member stays ready to forgo estate tax while pushing Congress to pay for the full $4.0 trillion of aid packages.

On the other hand, US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai pushes Novavax for further vaccine production while India starts getting global help while battling the crisis.

Meanwhile, Canada marks the first blood clot death following the AstraZeneca vaccine’s usage whereas Spain is up for welcoming the UK travelers from June.

Above all, the market’s hopes that US Federal Reserve Chair Powell will defend the easy money seem to favor the risk catalysts by the press time.

It should be noted that the Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed but the US dollar index (DXY) extends the previous day’s recovery by the press time.

Looking forward, a lack of major data/events and the pre-Fed trading lull could keep troubling the momentum traders.

Read: Federal Reserve Preview: Will Powell power up the dollar? Three things to watch out for

Author

Anil Panchal

FXStreet

Anil Panchal has nearly 15 years of experience in tracking financial markets. With a keen interest in macroeconomics, Anil aptly tracks global news/updates and stays well-informed about the global financial moves and their implications.

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