Investors are anticipating that the
Federal Reserve
will leave interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of its first meeting of the year; U.S. stock futures are little changed following a market rebound yesterday following Monday's tech selloff;
"Magnificent Seven" members
Tesla (
TSLA
), Microsoft (
MSFT
), and Meta Platforms (
META
) are preparing to report earnings after markets close; Microsoft and OpenAI reportedly are investigating whether a group linked to China's DeepSeek improperly accessed data; and shares of Dutch chipmaker ASML Holding (
ASML
) are surging after it reported strong net bookings. Here's what investors need to know today.
1. Federal Reserve Expected to Leave Interest Rates Unchanged
Market watchers are focused on the conclusion of the first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the year, where officials are expected to keep interest rates unchanged from their current level of 4.25% to 4.50%. It would be the first time in four meetings that the central bank didn't lower interest rates, as persistent inflation and a strong jobs market raise concerns among Fed officials. After the 2 p.m. ET release of the interest rate decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will take media questions, which could influence market movements.
2. US Stock Futures Little Changed as Investors Await Fed Decision
U.S. stock futures are little changed following yesterday's
rebound from Monday's tech selloff
.
Nasdaq
futures are up slightly following the index's 2% jump Tuesday, while
S&P 500
and
Dow Jones Industrial Average
futures are little changed following their prior gains. Investors are anticipating today's Federal Reserve decision on interest rates and comments from Chair Jerome Powell. Bitcoin (
BTCUSD
) is up 1% to trade at over $102,000. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note and gold futures are little changed. Oil futures are down less than 1%.
3. 'Magnificent 7' Members Tesla, Microsoft, Meta to Report Results After Close
Investors are focused on several members of the "Magnificent Seven" ahead of their scheduled earnings reports after markets close. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha anticipate that Tesla ( TSLA ) will post revenue of $27.35 billion , a roughly 9% increase from the year-ago quarter. Microsoft's ( MSFT ) report comes as Morgan Stanley wrote of a "wall of worry" around the company's AI competitiveness, though analysts still estimate the software giant will report 11% year-over-year revenue growth to $68.89 billion. Analysts see Meta Platforms ( META ) reporting a 17% revenue gain to $47.04 billion on rising AI contributions to add sales.
4. Microsoft, OpenAI Reportedly Investigating Data Access by DeepSeek-Linked Group
Microsoft and its partner OpenAI are investigating whether a group linked to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek improperly accessed OpenAI data, according to Bloomberg . Microsoft researchers discovered the potential data breach this fall and notified OpenAI, the report said. DeepSeek recently released its AI model, which surprised the U.S. tech industry with its advanced performance and cost-effective development. Microsoft is OpenAI's largest investor .
5. ASML Stock Pops as Net Bookings Surge Past Estimates
ASML Holding ( ASML ) stock is nearly 6% higher in premarket trading after the Dutch semiconductor-gear manufacturer reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results . ASML said that its net bookings reached 7.09 billion euros ($7.38 billion)—well above analysts' consensus estimate of 3.99 billion euros compiled by Visible Alpha. Net sales of 9.26 billion euros and net income of 2.69 billion euros also topped projections. The upbeat earnings report follows the stock's decline earlier this week when DeepSeek's low-cost cutting-edge AI model spooked markets .
Read the original article on Investopedia