-- US equity futures were higher pre-bell Thursday as traders absorbed the latest round of financial results, including those of big tech, amid the Federal Open Market Committee maintaining its target rate.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.6% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.5% lower.
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META) all reported higher earnings and revenue for Q1, while Microsoft (MSFT) posted an increase in fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and revenue. Apple (AAPL) is expected to publish its fiscal Q2 financial results after-market.
The Federal Open Market Committee maintained the target range for its federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75%, as expected, but the level of dissent was reportedly the highest since 1992, with four officials dissenting.
Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 1.5% at $108.81 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 2.4% lower at $104.30 per barrel.
The March core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, scheduled for release at 8:30 am ET, is expected to increase 0.3%, compared with the prior month's gain of 0.4%, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Initial jobless claims are projected to have declined to 212,000 in the week ended April 25 from 214,000 in the prior week. The advance estimate for Q1 GDP is seen coming in at 2.3%, up from 0.5% in the previous quarter.