S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures tick higher ahead of Fed decision; SpaceX rises: Live updates

S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures rose in early trading Wednesday as traders awaited the latest monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve, while SpaceX was set to gain once again.

Futures tied to the broad market index climbed 0.1%, while contracts linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq were up 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell marginally.

SpaceX traded higher by 3.5% in the premarket. The stock has been on fire since the rocket company’s initial public offering last week, which was priced at $135. In that short time, shares are up around 50%, bolting the company’s valuation above that of Amazon’s.

Chip stocks also rose in early trading, with ASML advancing 4% and Intel popping by 3%. The Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXQ) was up by 2.3%.

Asia markets closed mostly higher Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 scaling a new peak, and rising 0.72%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.58%. Hong Kong Hang Seng Index was down 0.7%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 gained nearly 1%. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 rose 0.3%.

Investors are largely expecting that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%. However, most Wall Street Fed watchers anticipate that Warsh won’t submit a “dot” to the FOMC’s quarterly update of where individual officers expect rates to head from here.

Stocks are coming off a mixed session, with the Dow topping 52,000 for the first time, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell.

The moves came after all three major averages rose on Monday, following an announcement from President Donald Trump that the U.S. and Iran had reached a potential deal to end the war. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that both sides have terminated their military operations, while an official signing ceremony will take place in Switzerland this Friday.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape here for a solid finish to the quarter, and then, as we go into the second half, color us constructive,” said Scott Chronert, head of U.S. equity strategy at Citi Research, on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” on Tuesday afternoon.

The strategist said that he still expects leadership out of the artificial intelligence infrastructure cohort going into the second quarter reporting period. “With oil prices beginning to come off here as we get closer to an Iran conflict resolution, I think we can see the Fed moving to the sidelines,” he said.

“What this ultimately does is extend the broadening playbook, which has been underway for the past month or so, all of which gives us, in our view, a path higher as we go into the back half of the year,” Chronert said.