U.S. Stock Futures surge with key Fed meeting in focus

Wall Street was on track to break a five-session run of losses Tuesday, shaking off China’s continuing rout, as stock futures tilted higher ahead of a highly anticipated Federal Reserve meeting.

Investors were also waiting for fresh consumer-confidence figures, home-price data and earnings from Ford Motor Co. F, +1.11% and Pfizer Inc. PFE, +0.23% among others.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMU5, +0.47% rose 93 points, or 0.5%, to 17,488, while those for the S&P 500 index ESU5, +0.54% added 13.10 points, or 0.6%, to 2,077.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index NQU5, +0.45% picked up 24.25 points, or 0.5%, to 4,547.

The gains came after all three averages closed firmly lower on Monday, tracking a global selloff that was spurred by an 8.5% slide in the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -1.68% its largest one-day loss in eight years.

The Chinese benchmark continued its rout on Tuesday, although the daily loss was smaller at 1.7%. Read: With China, stock market manipulation goes global

Fed meeting: Closer to home, investors will watch the two-day Federal Reserve meeting that kicks off on Tuesday. A statement is due at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, likely to be scrutinized for clues to the timing of a rate hike.

Chairwoman Janet Yellen has previously indicated that a rate increase is in the cards before the end of the year, possibly as early as September.

However, expectations for a September move have faded recently, partly because of the market turmoil in China and a slide in oil prices.

“The Fed will surely bring the Chinese selloff and commodity rout under their consideration and will tailor their response accordingly. We do not think that Yellen will fan the fire any further by bringing the exact timeline for a rate hike. In fact, there is a strong possibility that she may water down those expectations and use a very dovish approach,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, in a note.

Read: Fed is closer to a September rate hike than many think, says FedWatch’s Tim Duy

The dollar traded mixed against other major currencies ahead of the Fed meeting, with the ICE dollar index DXY, +0.36% inching 0.3% higher to 96.740.

Data: Consumer-confidence numbers for July are due at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. They are forecast to show a drop to 99.1 from 101.4 in June, according to economists polled by MarketWatch.

At 9 a.m. Eastern, the Case-Shiller home-price index for May comes out, followed by the Markit services purchasing-managers index for July at 9:45 a.m. Eastern. The Richmond Fed business activity survey for July comes out at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Earnings: It’s another busy day on the earnings calendar, with several prominent companies reporting before the bell. Chemicals major DuPont DD, -0.37% said second-quarter earnings fell to $1.03 from $1.15 last year. Shares fell 1.5% premarket.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. PFE, +0.23% is forecast to have earned 52 cents a share in the second quarter, down from 58 cents a share a year ago.

Car maker Ford Motor Co. F, +1.11% is forecast to post a profit of 37 cents a share for the second quarter, down from 40 cents a share a year earlier.

Tobacco company Reynolds American Inc. RAI, -0.45% United Parcel Service Inc. UPS, +0.39% and JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU, -1.67% are also slated to report earnings premarket.

And after the market closes, Twitter Inc. TWTR, -2.03% is expected to report second-quarter earnings of 4 cents a share, up from 2 cents a share a year earlier.

Movers & shakers: General Motors Co. GM, -0.03% plans to work with a Chinese auto maker on overhauling how it designs cars for developing markets, a $5 billion initiative.

Honeywell International Inc. HON, -1.10% shares may move ahead of the bell, after news the industrial giant will buy German-based energy and water business Elster Group GmbH from Manufacturing group Melrose Industries PLC MRO, +10.02%

eBay Inc. EBAY, -0.81% slipped 0.8% in thin premarket trade, after the e-commerce company said it’s ending its eBay Now one-hour delivery service, in the U.S.

Shares of Baidu Inc. BIDU, -4.16% slumped 8.7% after the Chinese online portal late Monday reported earnings that missed forecasts.

Other markets: European stock markets rose almost across the board, recovering from the China-spurred selloff on Monday. Metal prices were mixed, while crude oil prices CLU5, -0.65% slid further below $50 a barrel.

Source: MarketWatch