US futures drop ahead of key economic growth figures

• US stock futures slid on Wednesday ahead of the release of key GDP data.

• An upward revision to the fourth-quarter growth estimate could delay the Fed’s interest-rate cuts.

• New figures for retail and wholesale inventories and the US trade balance in goods are also due.

US stocks were poised to open lower at Wednesday’s opening bell as investors feared resilient economic data would push back the timeline for cuts to interest rates.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.3% shortly after 4.30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Futures linked to the Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.2% and 0.4% respectively.

The key 10-year Treasury yield was up 0.6% at 4.3%, while the US Dollar Index rose by 0.3% to 104.15 points. The Fed’s campaign to crush inflation by raising its benchmark rate from almost zero at the start of 2022 to more than 5% by mid-2023 has boosted bond yields and the greenback.

Wall Street’s denizens were holding their breath for the first official revision to fourth-quarter GDP, as stronger-than-expected growth could make the Fed hesitant to cut rates and potentially overstimulate the economy.

“Good news on GPD data has the potential to be bad news for market sentiment, provided that strong growth and higher inflation would push the Fed rate cut expectations further down the road,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said in a morning note.

“A U-turn in inflation won’t only delay the first rate cut but likely slow the pace of the future cuts as well. That’s not good news for risk appetite.”

Investors were also watching out for fresh data on retail and wholesale inventories, the latest figures for the US trade balance in goods, and scheduled comments from three regional Fed presidents.

Salesforce, Snowflake, and Monster Beverage were among the companies set to report earnings later on Wednesday.

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