Stock futures rise as Wall Street tries to recover from Wednesday’s losses

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, March 21, 2022.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Stock futures were little changed on Wednesday night as investors recovered from losses during the regular trading session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose slightly 14 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.10% and 0.17%, respectively.

Top gainers include homebuilding company KB Home and streaming service Spotify, which popped 4% and 4.3% in extended trading, respectively.

The major averages took a breather during the regular trading session Wednesday, as higher oil and commodities prices and the likelihood of greater interest rate hikes have investors uncertain about the economic outlook for later this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 450 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 declined 1.2%. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 1.3%.

“The idea of having a soft landing was always going to be really challenging, and when you think about the additional wrinkle of a complication of Russia invasion of the past month, and the surge in commodity prices, it makes it super difficult for Fed to calibrate,” Michael Schumacher, head of macro strategy at Wells Fargo Securities, said on CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Wednesday.

Investors watched for further updates from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as President Joe Biden headed to Europe to add pressure to Russia and lend support for a ceasefire.

Oil prices rose higher. U.S. benchmark WTI Crude jumped 5%, and the international standard Brent Crude benchmark spiked 5.23%.

New weekly jobs claims data and durable goods orders will be released at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Darden Restaurants will report earnings before the bell on Thursday.

Higher inflation and greater interest rate hikes have investors uncertain about the economic outlook.