Wall Street futures tick up with Fed commentary, minutes in focus

By Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta (Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Wednesday following a brief pause in Wall Street's record rally as investors looked for clues on the interest rate trajectory and clarity on the ongoing government shutdown. With the U.S. government shutdown delaying the release of key economic reports and the earnings season fast approaching, traders are likely to pore through every bit of data for growth, inflation and interest-rate indicators. Gold surged past $4,000 an ounce for the first time, underscoring elevated demand for hedges amid macro uncertainty. Remarks from St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, Fed Governor Michael Barr, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari are on deck. Minutes from the Fed's September meeting are also due at 2 p.m. ET. At 06:52 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 94 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 11.5 points, or 0.17%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 54.25 points, or 0.22%. Despite Tuesday's retreat, equities are hovering near record highs, powered by euphoria around artificial intelligence. The rally has persisted through what is typically a weak period, with investors largely brushing off news related to the government shutdown, which is now in its eighth day. "While it appears we are not in a bubble yet, high levels of market concentration and increased competition in the AI space suggest investors should continue to focus on diversification," Goldman Sachs strategists wrote in a note. A batch of alternative indicators has pointed to a softening labor market. Global investment firm Carlyle estimated on Tuesday that U.S. employers added just 17,000 jobs in September, based on data from its portfolio companies. That was well below the 54,000 gain economists polled by Reuters had expected in the official nonfarm payrolls report, which was due last week but was delayed by the government shutdown. Among stocks, FedEx fell 2.2% in premarket trading after J.P. Morgan downgraded it to "neutral" from "overweight". U.S.-listed shares of gold miners rose, with Newmont, Kinross Gold and Gold Fields up 2.2%, 1.9% and 3.1%, respectively. Shares of Confluent rose 19.8% after Reuters reported that the data streaming software maker is exploring a sale. Joby Aviation declined 10.7% after the electric air taxi maker on Tuesday priced $514 million stock offering at a 10.9% discount to the stock's last sale. Freeport-McMoRan rose 2.3% after Citigroup upgraded the mining company's rating to "buy" from "neutral". (Reporting by Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Anil D'Silva)

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