Dow futures tick lower as investors assess cooling economy

By Oliver Gray 

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were trading slightly lower during Wednesday’s evening trade, after major benchmark averages finished in the green as weakening economic data boosted hopes that aggressive rate hikes are cooling the economy, while the Fed's meeting minutes showed that policymakers remained committed to higher rates for some time to come.

By 18:40 ET (23:40 GMT) Dow Jones Futures were down 0.1%, while S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq 100 Futures each traded flat.

In extended deals, Richardson Electronics Ltd (NASDAQ:RELL) added 7.6% after the company reported Q2 EPS of $0.39 versus $0.29 expected, while revenue came in at $65.9 million versus $64.5M expected.

Simulations Plus (NASDAQ:SLP) fell 2.8% after reporting Q1 EPS of $0.06 versus $0.09 expected on revenues of $11.96M versus $12.39M expected.

Ahead in Thursday’s session, market participants will be monitoring ADP Nonfarm Employment Change, Initial Jobless Claims, Trade Balance, and Services PMIs, while Fed speakers Bostic and Bullard are due to deliver speeches.

During Wednesday’s regular trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 133.4 points or 0.4% to 33,269.8, the S&P 500 gained 28.9 points or 0.8% to 3,853 and the NASDAQ Composite lifted 71.8 points or 0.7% to 10,458.8.

On the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 3.694%.