Stock futures rise as investors assess Fed update

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on January 18, 2022 in New York City.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average turned lower after the Federal Reserve's Powell update at the conclusion of its two-day meeting.

The futures were tied to the index. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up.

Tech shares were higher after the regular session ended. Bill Ackman bought 3.1 million shares of the company. A strong earnings report led to a 3% gain forTesla. Despite strong earnings, Intel lost 2%.

After gaining more than 500 points at one point, the Dow ended the day down $129 points. The S&P 500 lost ground and the Nasdaq was little changed, with a boost from Microsoft's post-earnings gain.

After the Fed ended its two-day meeting and signaled it would hike rates to fight inflation, stocks took a turn lower. Powell said there was room to do so before hurting the labor market. The 10-year Treasury yield went up.

While offering some clarity on how the Fed would begin the process of removing policy accommodation, the outcome of the meeting fell short in providing the needed guidance on the timing and magnitude of the shift in policy.

Following Powell's press conference, some investors have started to bet on five rate hikes this year. Since the December meeting, there has been uncertainty about the Fed's plans to tighten monetary policy.

With Chairman Powell not making any timing commitments, the door is slightly open for a slower moving Fed, Ripley said.

Microsoft's strong earnings report Tuesday night appeared to be a good bellwether for social media, gaming, software and other industries.

The market is overshooting and losing its mind, creating great opportunities for long term growth investors to snap up lots of great shares.

Southwest Air and Mastercard are among the companies that will report their quarterly results before the bell on Thursday. Danaher, Valero and others are going to report.