NEW YORK, March 21 — Futures tracking Wall Street’s main stock indexes gained today as chip stocks rose following Micron Technology’s upbeat forecast, while investors took comfort in the Federal Reserve sticking to its three-rate-cut view for this year.

Wall Street rallied yesterday, with the S&P 500 notching a record high after US central bankers kept borrowing costs unchanged and indicated they still expect to ease interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point by the end of 2024.

"The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting concluded on a more dovish tone than even the optimistic marketplace had anticipated,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA.

"The Street went into this meeting expecting three cuts this year, with the first coming by mid-year, and that is what appears to have been communicated, as Chair Powell did not push back against market expectations for a rate cut in June.”

Inflation reports "haven’t really changed the overall story, which is that of inflation moving down gradually on a sometimes bumpy road to 2 per cent,” Powell said in a press conference after the policy meeting.

The CME FedWatch tool showed the market is now pricing in a 70 per cent chance of a Fed rate cut in June, compared with around 56 per cent at the beginning of the week.

UBS Global Research said that it now expects the first cut in June, compared with its prior forecast of a cut in May.

Chipmaker Micron Technology jumped 17.7 per cent in trading before the bell after posting a surprise quarterly profit and forecasting third-quarter revenue above estimates.

Peers such as Intel and Nvidia added more than 1 per cent each, while Western Digital jumped 6.9 per cent.

Separately, TD Cowen upgraded Broadcom’s rating to "outperform”. The stock was up 2.7 per cent.

Investors awaited data on weekly jobless claims and business activity due later in the day.

At 7:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 85 points, or 0.21 per cent, S&P 500 e-minis were up 17 points, or 0.32 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 127.75 points, or 0.69 per cent.

Most rate-sensitive megacap growth and technology stocks also advanced in premarket trading.

Apple, however, fell 1.2 per cent on a report that the US Department of Justice is preparing to sue the company as soon today for allegedly violating antitrust laws.

Reddit’s shares are expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange later in the day under the ticker ‘RDDT’ after the social media platform priced its initial public offering at the top end of its targeted range of $31 to $34 per share. — Reuters