U.S. Stock Index Futures Rise

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday, with those tied to the S&P 500 hitting all-time highs as investors focus on upcoming data and commentary from central bank officials, including Chair Jerome Powell.

Upcoming Data

November private payrolls data is due at 8:15 a.m. ET, while the highly anticipated November monthly employment report is expected on Friday.

Traders currently see a near 74% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Fed this month, compared to a more than 66% chance seen a week earlier, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials indicated on Tuesday they believe inflation is heading down to their 2% target. Most signaled support for further interest-rate cuts, but none strongly advocated for or against a reduction at the Fed's meeting in two weeks.

Comments from Fed Chair Powell are due later today, along with the 'Beige Book', a U.S. economic activity survey from the central bank, scheduled for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Market Performance

November non-manufacturing activity surveys from S&P Global and the Institute for Supply Management are due shortly after markets open.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted record closing highs on Tuesday, with tech-related stocks continuing their rise in a turbulent session.

U.S. stocks had a solid November after President-elect Donald Trump recaptured the White House in the Nov. 5 election, and his Republican Party swept both houses of Congress.

The benchmark S&P 500 is up almost 27% so far this year, significantly outperforming bourses in Europe, Japan, and mainland China.

Pre-Market Movement

At 05:03 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 188 points, or 0.42%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 13.75 points, or 0.23%, reaching all-time highs, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 114.25 points, or 0.54%.

Most megacap and growth stocks were broadly higher in premarket trading, with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) leading gains with a 0.9% rise each.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) jumped 12.8% after the enterprise cloud company exceeded Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and raised the lower end of its annual revenue forecast.

Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL) Technology advanced 12.4% after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analyst estimates, while digital identity verification firm Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) soared 17.2% after reporting third-quarter profit versus a year-ago loss.