Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59 points, or 0.19%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, while the Nasdaq 100 also gained 0.13%. Traders awaited a Q&A session from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Cato Institute later in the day as they looked for more clues about the central bank’s plans for future rate hikes. The European Central Bank is also expected to announce its latest policy decision on Thursday. The stock market is making a steady recovery during regular trading hours on Wednesday. The Dow gained about 436 points, or 1.4%. The S&P 500 rose 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.1%. It was the best day since Aug. 10 for all three averages, and the Nasdaq snapped a seven-day losing streak. Even with Wednesday’s rally, stocks remain down overall. Concerns about a slowing economy and further rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve are pushing some investors away from riskier parts of the market. “Recession risk is rising, and as a result we are moving more defensively in our portfolios. However, high inflation means that traditional ‘hedge’ strategies like cash and Treasuries can create a drag on overall return,” Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments, said in a note to clients. “We are fully invested in our portfolios, using selective bets within this overall risk-neutral position to build resilience against volatility and inflation. Up our equity sleeve, this includes a strong outperformance in equity and dividend payers.” , Goodwin added. On Thursday morning, investors will get the latest look at the US economy with jobless claims data. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected 235,000 initial jobless claims, up slightly from 232,000 last week.
