Kevin Warsh, speaking at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal, refrained from signalling the Federal Reserve’s policy stance ahead of its meeting later this month. However, he acknowledged that inflation remains elevated.
“We’re all in the price stability business, that might not be our only business, but if there was a common thing I heard over the last couple of days, it was open-mindedness on these questions of AI, open-mindedness on productivity, but we’ve all looked around, and we’ve seen that prices are too high,” Warsh told CNBC’s Sara Eisen during the panel discussion.Investors are also awaiting Thursday’s June non-farm payrolls report, which will be released a day earlier than usual because of the US Independence Day holiday.
According to ADP data released on Wednesday, private-sector hiring slowed more than expected in June, with employers adding 98,000 jobs during the month. Separately, data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed US employers announced just under 46,000 job cuts in June, down slightly from nearly 48,000 layoffs announced in the same month last year.US futures trade lower ahead of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s speech
US stock futures edged lower on Wednesday, July 1, as investors turned cautious at the start of the second half of 2026, following a strong first-half rally on Wall Street and ahead of remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh that could offer fresh clues on the interest-rate outlook.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.2%, while S&P 500 futures slipped 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.4%-0.5%, giving back some gains after the technology-heavy index rallied in the previous session.
The muted start follows a robust first half for US equities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 8.9% in the first six months of 2026, marking its best first-half performance since 2021. The S&P 500 gained 9.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 12.8%. The Russell 2000 surged nearly 22%, recording its strongest first-half performance since 1991.
Semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks have been the key drivers of the market’s rally. The report said a record rally in chipmakers added nearly $2 trillion in combined market capitalisation to Micron, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) during the second quarter, stated CNBC.
