Trade, Earnings, Fed Outlooks Lift Wall Street Pre-Bell, Asia, Europe Up

07:20 AM EDT, 10/29/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Wall Street futures pointed moderately higher pre-bell Wednesday on hopes for a China-US trade deal, and ahead of the Federal Reserve's announcement on rates and monetary policy. A generally good earnings season aided sentiments.

The Fed at 2 pm ET will announce its latest interest-rate decision, with a 99% chance the central bank will cut rates by 0.25%, according to the CME Group FedWatch tool.

Fed Chief Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 pm ET.

In trade news, President Donald Trump early Wednesday said he expects to cinch an agreement with China when he meets with China President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

In the futures, the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, the Nasdaq inclined 0.4% but the venerable the Dow Jones was off 0.2%.

Asian exchanges traded mostly rallied overnight, with records set in Tokyo, Seoul and Taiwan on tech optimism. Hong Kong was closed on holiday.

European bourses edged north midday on the continent.

On the earnings scene, Caterpillar (CAT) rose 4.9% pre-bell after the heavy equipment maker reported Q3 earnings and revenue above Street views, in morning hours.

Verizon Communications (VZ) traded up 3.5% pre-bell after the telecom colossus reported Q3 profits that topped analyst consensus, though it missed on operating revenue. The company also reiterated guidance.

Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META) plan to release earnings after-bell.

After a 5% gain on Tuesday, Nvidia (NVDA) shares rose 3.7% pre-bell after Trump said he may allow the chipmaker to sell Blackwell AI processors to China.

On the economic calendar is the weekly EIA petroleum status report at 10:30 am ET, followed by the Atlanta Fed Survey of Business Uncertainty at 11 am.

In pre-market action, bitcoin traded at $113,118, West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded higher at $60.29, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 3.99%. Spot gold traded for $4,026 an ounce.

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