Nasdaq Futures Jump 2 Percent After Microsoft’s Strong Forecast; Fed Decision Looms

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, on Jan. 25, 2022. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

U.S. stock index futures jumped on Wednesday following two days of turbulent trading, helped by stellar results from Microsoft, while investors looked to the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.

Microsoft Corp. gained 3.9 percent premarket after the Windows maker forecast revenue for the current quarter broadly ahead of Wall Street targets, driven in part by its Intelligent Cloud unit.