By Saumya Vaishampayan and Alexandra Scaggs
U.S. stock futures rose Wednesday, boosted by an upbeat reading
on U.S. economic growth and strong earnings reports.
A policy statement from the Federal Reserve is due later
Wednesday.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 72 points, or 0.4%,
to 16918.
S&P 500 index futures gained nine points, or 0.5%, to 1972
and Nasdaq-100 futures rose 25 points, or 0.6%, to 3977. Changes in
stock futures don't always accurately predict stock moves after the
opening bell.
Stock futures extended their gains after a report showed the
U.S. economy posted a strong rebound in the spring. An initial
reading from the Commerce Department said second-quarter gross
domestic product rose 4%, topping forecasts of a 3% rise. Treasury
prices fell on the news, pushing the yield on the 10-year note up
to 2.505%.
Stocks have surged to records this year, fueled by low interest
rates and improving labor-market data.
"The market has no pessimism priced into it at all," said Brad
McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial.
In other economic news, an ADP survey said the private sector
added 218,000 jobs in July. Economists had expected a gain of
238,000 jobs.
On Tuesday, stocks fell amid news that the U.S. and the European
Union had adopted new economic sanctions against Russia. The Dow
lost 0.4% to 16912.11 and the S&P 500 dropped 0.5% to
1969.95.
The Federal Reserve's monetary-policy statement is due
Wednesday, with expectations for another cut in monthly bond
purchases to $25 billion from $35 billion. Officials are likely to
discuss when and how to raise short-term interest rates from near
zero, where they have been since late 2008.
In corporate news, shares of Twitter jumped sharply in premarket
trade. The social-media company reported second-quarter revenue
that more than doubled and posted its second consecutive quarter of
accelerating user growth, reassuring investors about the service's
popularity.
Garmin Ltd. posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter
earnings and lifted its outlook for the year, causing shares to
climb.
Write to Alexandra Scaggs at alexandra.scaggs@wsj.com and Saumya
Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com