U.S. stock futures were unchanged on Thursday as investors focused on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium later this week, which is expected to clarify the outlook for interest rate cuts. During regular trading on Wednesday, the Dow rose by 0.14%, the S&P 500 by 0.42%, and the Nasdaq Composite by 0.57%, with nine out of the 11 S&P sectors closing higher. These gains followed the latest Fed meeting minutes, which revealed that a "vast majority" of members agreed that "if the data continue to align with expectations, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting." Markets are fully pricing in a September rate cut, favoring a 25 basis point reduction. On the corporate front, Target surged 10.3% on strong second-quarter earnings, while Macy's dropped 12.9% after lowering its forecast. In extended trading, Snowflake fell 8% despite strong quarterly results, and Urban Outfitters declined 8.4% due to disappointing same-store sales.
