(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 29 apr - US futures were slightly higher ahead of big tech earnings and Jerome Powell's last interest-rate decision as Federal Reserve chair.

Wall Street ended lower yesterday as tech stocks came under fire. The Dow fell 0.1%, the S&P 500 lost 0.5% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.9%.

The Fed is widely tipped to stay pat on interest rates today in light of concerns over possible inflationary pressure from the US-Iran conflict. But attention will be focused on whether Powell will give up his seat on the Fed's board as his mandate ends and new chair-elect Kevin Warsh prepares to take the helm.

Four members of the so-called 'Magnificent Seven' meanwhile are scheduled to unveil their latest earnings after the closing bell with Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft all on the block. The focus will be on the heavy AI investments tech giants have committed to and whether the spending is showing through in terms of revenue growth.

Oil prices meantime continued to rise after a report US president Donald Trump ha told aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran. Brent crude was up nearly 3% at almost 115 dollars per barrel.

Futures on the Dow Jones were up 21.00 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 futures were up 4.75 points, or 0.07%, while futures on.

the Nasdaq were up 94.75 points, or 0.35%.

(RADIOCOR) 29-04-26 13:57:26 (0441) 5 NNNN