Futures Signal Flagging Rally as Catalysts Sought: Markets Wrap

　　(Bloomberg) -- US equities struggled for direction as investors cast around for fresh catalysts to take the rally further. Treasury yields and the dollar rose.

　　Contracts on the S&P 500 were flat on Wednesday after the underlying gauge advanced the previous four sessions. The benchmark Treasury yield rose two basis points to 4.48%. Oil fell to the lowest level since mid-March, after a mildly bearish US stockpile report.

　　Investors winding down from earnings season and a 3% rally for the S&P 500 in May are now unsure of what comes next, as US policymakers signal bets on a pivot to easier policy may be premature. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said its likely the central bank will keep rates where they are “for an extended period of time.”

　　“We are now crawling through the tail end of earnings season and the market is lapsing into complacency,” said Hugh Grieves, fund manager of the Premier Miton US Opportunities fund. “The economy is ‘okay,’ rate cuts remain on the table and the oil price is declining. Unfortunately thats not a stable equilibrium.”

　　The Fed‘s more deliberate approach has put it out of sync with central banks in Europe that have already embarked on easing. Wednesday, Sweden’s Riksbank kicked off its rate cutting cycle, easing policy for the first time in eight years. That followed the Swiss National Banks decision to leapfrog peers with an interest rate cut in March.

　　Fed Governor Lisa Cook is due to speak later Wednesday.

　　Among notable single stocks, Lyft Inc. shares gained in premarket trading, after the ride-hailing firms results and outlook beat estimates. Reddit Inc. shares rose after it posted a strong outlook.

　　Stocks in Europe touched a new high after upbeat results from brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and Siemens Energy showed the earnings recovery filtering through to a wider swathe of the economy.

　　“Right now were seeing the broadening of performance, especially from the earnings perspective,” Nataliia Lipikhina, head of EMEA equity strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “The market wanted to see that earnings in different sectors, not just tech, are delivering.”