Investing.com - U.S. futures pulled back on Thursday, as investors took some risk off the table ahead of the upcoming G20 meeting and Federal Reserve meeting minutes.
The S&P 500 futures fell 10 points or 0.37% as of 07:04 AM ET (12:04 GMT) while Dow futures dipped 67 points, or 0.26%. Meanwhile, tech heavy Nasdaq 100 futures decreased 44 points, or 0.64%.
Markets rallied on Wednesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said interest rates were “just below” the neutral level. The comments came less than two months after he said rates were probably "a long way" from that point. Investors viewed the comments as an indication that the Fed would slow its program of hiking interest rates.
While investors welcomed the possibility of slowing interest rates, some economists weren’t impressed. “This is what the Fed has been signaling in its forecasts all year,” Paul Donovan, Chief Economist at UBS, wrote in a blog post.
Market watchers were looking ahead to the minutes of the Fed’s November meeting due to be released later Thursday, for fresh indications on the path of interest rates.
The Fed is widely expected to raise rates for a fourth time this year at its upcoming meeting in December and has indicated that it may raise rates three more times in 2019, but markets are pricing in just one rate hike next year.
Investors were also monitoring developments in the U.S.-China trade spat ahead of the upcoming G20 summit later this week where U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold talks.
Trump said earlier this week that it was "highly unlikely" he would accept China's request to hold off a planned increase in tariffs due to take effect in January.
Research group Nielsen Holdings (NYSE:NLSN) was among the top gainers in premarket trading, jumping 2.57% on news that Madison Dearborn is bidding for the company. Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) rose 3% after its earnings beat estimates, while Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) gained 2.50% on news that the semiconductor was close to a resolution over legal battles with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Elsewhere, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) fell 0.94% while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) dipped 0.57% and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was down 0.54%.
Deutsche Bank AG (DE:DBKGn) NA O.N. (NYSE:DB) DBKGn shares slumped 4% following news that its Frankfurt offices were searched by officers on money laundering allegations.
In economic news, personal income and spending data is released at 8:30 AM ET (13:30 GMT), along with PCE data. Jobless figures and pending home sales are also due in the morning.
In commodities markets, gold futures inched up 0.05% to $1,230.40 a troy ounce while crude oil futures decreased 1.11% to $49.73 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.24% to 96.91.