Stock futures rebound as traders brace for Powell speech

U.S. stock futures looked to rebound from Monday's losses as investors watched the latest developments related to the surge of protests in China over the government's zero COVID stance, particularly if the unrest leads to policy changes.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 GSPC went up by 0.3% in premarket trading, while futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI went up by 0.1%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite IXIC rose by as much as 0.5%.

On Monday, stock prices fell as protests against China's strict COVID policies had far-reaching consequences for global markets. The yuan dipped as the U.S. dollar weakened against a basket of peers. In the oil markets Tuesday, the global benchmark for Brent crude climbed by 2.6% to above $86 a barrel.

The selloff accelerated Monday after two Federal Reserve officials stressed that the central bank's rate-hiking campaign will continue. New York Fed President John Williams said there was still more work to do to bring down inflation.

As a result of a modestly higher path for policy relative to September, Williams told reporters on Monday after an event hosted by the Economic Club of New York.

At another event, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said we had a way to get restrictive. Bullard said that the Fed's target policy rates need to rise to at least 5.00% and 5.25% from the current level of 3.75% -- 4.00% to be sufficiently restrictive to curb inflation.

Andrew Tyler, head of US Market Intelligence at J.P. Morgan, wrote that all eyes are on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Wednesday, though it is not clear what more Powell could say that we have not heard from recent Fedspeakers. A Fed pivot is currently off the table, but investors looking for a pause are unlikely to find support from Powell this week. Investors are bracing for a jam-packed week of economic data. The September home prices will be released, which is expected to show how higher rates are beginning to translate into lower home prices. The Consumer Confidence Index is the latest indicator of the strength of the U.S. economy.

In premarket trading Tuesday, Apple AAPL stock was higher after the turmoil at the world's largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou. The unrest in China has sparked fears of a shortfall of close to 6 million iPhone Pro units this year, according to Bloomberg. Apple is facing a fight with Twitter, as the billionaire owner of the company is picking up the other end of Elon Musk's ire. Musk targeted the company over its Ad spending on Twitter and raised the possibility of a bigger battle over Twitter's availability on the Apple App Store.

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc CRWD Intuit INTU and Workday WDAY are due to report Tuesday.

BlockFi, a loan and borrow platform, filed for bankruptcy in the world of criptocurrencies. The lender of criptocurrency is the latest in a series of platforms in the digital assets market that have crumbled after FTX collapse.