US STOCKS-Futures fall as investors await Fed rate hike data

The Reuters- U.S stock index futures fell on Wednesday after investors cautiously waited for the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates later in the day and a reading on private job additions last month.

After the rapid increases in 2022 to tame decades-high inflation, the Fed is seen as raising its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in its first policy meeting of the year.

The investors will likely see Chair Jerome Powell's news conference for more information on the trajectory of future rate hikes.

Money markets are betting on a 25 basis point bps hike in March and a terminal rate of 4.9% in June.

A rise by 25 bps is likely to be seen as a cautious move. Richard Flynn, UK managing director at Charles Schwab, said officials will hope that the central bank's tightening slows economic activity and wage growth without a recessionary spike in unemployment rate.

The Fed is looking at data that will determine the resilience of the labor market and wage growth, with recent readings showing that inflation is easing.

In January, private payrolls increased by 178,000, which is less than the 235,000 rise in the previous month, according to a Reuters poll.

The Labor Department's January reading on non-farm payrolls will be a precursor to the Labor Department's more comprehensive reading on nonfarm payrolls on Friday.

On Tuesday, Wall Street indexes reversed declines and rallied when the Fed's preferred wages gauge, the U.S. Employment Cost index, showed its smallest increase in a year during the fourth quarter.

Videogame publisher Electronic Arts Inc fell 10.1% in premarket trading on lowering its annual bookings forecast, halfway into the busiest week of earnings season.

Snap Inc. fell 15% after the social media company said it expects current-quarter revenue to decline by as much as 10%. Other social media and internet firms, like Meta Platforms Inc, Alphabet Inc, and Pinterest, were flat to 0.7% lower.

After the bell, Facebook parent Meta is expected to report quarterly results.

As a result of the recent nervousness among chipmakers, Advanced Micro Devices Inc added 3.4% after forecasting that it will improve in the second half of the year, boosting hopes that it is gaining on rival Intel Corp. Intel shares fell 0.1%.

The Dow was down 122 points, or 0.36%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 7.25 points, or 0.18%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis increased by 7.5 points, or 0.06%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average component of Amgen Inc fell 1.1% as the drugmaker said its fourth-quarter revenue fell slightly.

The quarterly earnings of S&P 500 firms are expected to decline 2.4% as of Tuesday, up from a decline of 3% in the previous session, per Refinitiv.