US pre-open: Stocks set for slightly higher start

(Sharecast News) - Stocks in the US are being called to start the session ever so slightly in the black. Of interest, in an interview with the Financial Times, Chicago Fed boss, Austan Goolsbee, said that signs that US bonds were discounting higher inflation would constitute a "major red flag".

As of 1306 GMT, Dow Jones mini futures were up by 73.0 points at 42,979.0, alongside a 2.50 point gain for the S&P 500 mini contract to 5,829.0.

Nasdaq-100 mini futures meanwhile were off by 13.50 points to 20,475.0.

In the background, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was edging up by two basis points to 4.344%.

Strategists at Barclays slashed their year-end 2025 target for the S&P 500 from 6,600 to 5,900 due to the uncertainty surrounding the US administration's tariff policies.

On the economic calendar for Wednesday, at 1330 GMT the Department of Commerce would release a reading on durable goods orders for the month of February.

It would be followed by a speech from Minneapolis Fed Neel Kashkari at 1400 GMT and another from his opposite number at the St. Louis Fed at 1500 GMT.