07:24 AM EDT, 10/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were pointing lower on Thursday as investors await commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after the central bank's September meeting minutes showed that most officials supported further rate cuts this year.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq declined 0.1% each in premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly in the red. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished Wednesday's trading session at record highs, while the Dow ended flat.

Powell is scheduled to speak at a community bank conference at 8:30 am ET, while Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman speaks at 8:35 am and later at 3:45 pm. Fed Governor Michael Barr's remarks are due at 12:45 pm, while San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly speaks at 6:40 pm.

The central bank's September meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed that most Fed officials indicated last month that it would be appropriate to further lower interest rates later this year amid growing concerns around the labor market.

"Participants expressed a range of views about the degree to which the current stance of monetary policy was restrictive and about the likely future path of policy," the minutes showed. "Most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year."

Markets expect there is a 95% probability the Federal Open Market Committee will reduce its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points later this month, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The US government shutdown stretched into its ninth day on Thursday, with the Senate reportedly unable to pass the Republicans' stopgap funding bill on Wednesday. The stoppage is expected to delay the release of the weekly jobless claims data, originally due today, having already delayed the September jobs report last week.

Treasury yields were mixed in premarket action, with the two-year rate rising 0.2 basis points to 3.59% and the 10-year rate retreating 1.4 basis points to 4.12%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased 0.6% to $62.19 a barrel before the open, after President Donald Trump announced on social media that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a plan to end their conflict. US commercial crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

Shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) inclined 1.5% pre-bell while rival Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) grew 1.6%. UiPath ( PATH ) advanced 5.3% while Costco Wholesale ( COST ) rose 1.4%.

PepsiCo ( PEP ) moved 1.8% higher as the beverages and snacking giant reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results. Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) , Tilray Brands ( TLRY ) and Neogen (NEOG) also report their latest financial results before the bell, among others, while Levi Strauss (LEVI) posts earnings after the markets close.

Gold slipped 0.3% to $4,059 per troy ounce, while bitcoin fell 1% to $122,265.