By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures were little changed Wednesday, pausing after
two straight days of declines in equities.
S&P 500 futures added one point to 2086. E-mini Dow futures
lost nine points to 17939, while e-mini Nasdaq-100 futures added
four points, or 0.1%, to 4433.
U.S. stocks ended lower Tuesday, with the Dow falling 0.6% to
18011.14. The S&P lost 0.6% to 2091.50.
Action in the stock market has quieted down this week, with
Tuesday marking the second-lowest volume day of 2015. Monday was
the third-slowest day. With the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's
policy meeting last week and ahead of first-quarter earnings
season, investors say that many of the immediate drivers of action
have disappeared. That has left stocks trading in a range, just
below all-time highs.
The Dow is 1.5% below its record of 18288.63, while the S&P
500 is 1.2% off its closing high of 2117.39, through Tuesday's
close. The Nasdaq is 1.1% away from its all-time high of
5048.62.
The Fed has emphasized its policy remains data dependent. And as
the debate at the Fed picks up over when to begin raising
short-term rates, investors will be more sensitive to data
releases, said Erik Wytenus, global investment specialist at J.P.
Morgan Private Bank. "The market is going to be hemming and hawing
over each piece of data," said Mr. Wytenus.
Orders for durable goods fell 1.4% in February from a month
earlier, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected orders to rise 0.2%.
Details of the report were downbeat. Durable goods orders for
January were weaker than previously reported and a key measure of
business investment continued to decline in February.
In Europe, Germany's DAX declined 0.6% and France's CAC 40 lost
0.8%.
Moves were muted in commodity markets. Crude-oil futures rose
0.5% to $47.76 a barrel. Gold futures added 0.4% to $1196.40 an
ounce.
Treasury prices rose, pushing the 10-year yield down to 1.860%
from 1.878% on Tuesday.
In corporate news, Kraft Foods Group Inc. and H.J. Heinz Co.
have agreed to merge. The combined company will be called The Kraft
Heinz Co. and would be the world's fifth-largest food and beverage
company. Kraft shares surged 35% in premarket trading.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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