S&P 500 is trading up 0.48% at 4175.47

U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday helped by positive earnings updates from companies such as Starbucks and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), with the Federal Reserve likely to deliver the biggest interest rate hike since May 2000.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc rose 6% in premarket trading after the chipmaker forecast stronger-than-expected full-year and second-quarter revenue.

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:SBUX) gained 5.9% after the coffee chain posted upbeat quarterly revenue.

Traders are pricing in expectations of a 50-basis points rate hike and announcement of the start of reductions to its $9 trillion balance sheet when the Fed releases its statement at the end of its two-day policy meeting at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).

The spotlight will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s news conference for fresh clues on how far and how fast the U.S. central bank is prepared to go in an effort to bring down high inflation.

Concerns about a hit to economic growth due to a hawkish Fed, mixed earnings from some big growth companies, the conflict in Ukraine and pandemic-related lockdowns in China have hammered Wall Street recently, with richly valued growth stocks bearing the brunt of the sell-off.

The first-quarter reporting season is in full swing. Of the 329 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings as of Tuesday, 81.2% have topped analyst expectations according to Refinitiv estimates.

On technical fronts S&P 500 RSI stood at 30.54 and currently it is trading below 10 and 20 days MA & above 5 days MA. So, SELL position can be taken with following target and stoploss:

TRADE SIGNAL – : S&P 500 – SELL: 4185.49, TARGET: 4161.53, STOP LOSS: 4202.07