U.S. stock futures are little changed as investors watch developments in the Israel-Iran conflict and prepare for today’s Federal Reserve interest-rate decision. Oil futures are edging higher to around $75 a barrel, while Bitcoin and gold futures are lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note is barely changed.
The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.25% to 4.5% when it concludes its meeting at 2 p.m. ET today. Financial markets early Wednesday were pricing in nearly a 100% likelihood that the Fed would leave the benchmark rate at the same level it’s been since December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is slated to address the media at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a company memo that he expects the online retailer to trim its corporate workforce over the next few years due to advancements in AI. Jassy suggested AI agents could help accelerate innovation at Amazon by taking on rote work previously handled by human employees.
Fed’s interest-rate announcement anticipated
Amazon had nearly 1.6 million full- and part-time employees as of March 31, according to its latest quarterly results. Amazon shares are slightly higher in premarket trading. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Meta Platforms offered $100 million signing bonuses to poach the ChatGPT maker’s staffers.
Speaking on a podcast, Sam Altman mentioned that the Facebook parent was offering even larger annual compensation packages, but added that “so far none of our best people have decided to take (Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg) up on that.” The alleged attempts to poach OpenAI staffers come as Zuckerberg reportedly refocuses Meta’s efforts on AI. Tesla shares are edging higher in premarket trading after shedding nearly 4% in the prior session. According to reports, Tesla will pause production of Cybertrucks and Model Y vehicles at its Austin, Texas, plant for one week starting the week of June 30.
It would be the third production halt within the past year. Austin is also the site of Tesla’s highly anticipated robotaxi launch, which CEO Elon Musk has “tentatively” planned for June 22.