By Bansari Mayur Camdar

(Reuters] Wall Street futures remained subdued on Thursday following hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve during the previous session. Meanwhile, attention turned to quarter-end results from growth firms and data about the fourth quarter of GDP.

The yields on short-term U.S. bonds rose to the highest level in 23 months following a Fed rate hike plan in March. Chair Jerome Powell had warned that inflation could be more persistent than originally thought.

Fed Funds futures indicated that traders were pricing five rate hikes in December after pricing out four.

Investor concerns rose further due to the escalating geopolitical tensions within Ukraine. According to the U.S., Wednesday’s statements showed that there are challenges for finding energy alternatives in Europe should Russia invade Ukraine and Russia cut off energy flow.

It fell in the last session, reversing its gains from volatile trading. However, it flirted with corrections for its third consecutive session.

For the bellwether to enter correction territory it would need to be 10% lower than its January 3rd record close. On Wednesday, it closed 9.3% lower than the previous session.

Investors will also keep an eye on data scheduled for 08:30 am. ET is forecast to indicate that the U.S. economy grew at an expected pace in the fourth quarter, as companies replenished their inventories to satisfy strong demand.

Some fear that a Fed more hawkish could harm the recovery.

Meanwhile, the fourth-quarter earnings season is in full swing with analysts expecting earnings from S&P 500 companies to grow 24.4% year-over-year, according to Refinitiv, as of Wednesday.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ) Inc lost 1.1% in the wake of warnings about supply chain issues that will persist through 2022. While chipmaker Intel Corp (NASDAQ): The company’s first-quarter earnings outlook fell by 2.7%, due to concerns about global supply chains.

The stock of megacap growth firms like Alphabet (NASDAQ;), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:), and Apple (NASDAQ 🙂 rose nearly 0.2% in each case. Apple will report its results shortly after the markets close.

At 6:47 AM. ET fell 28 points or 0.08%. ET was down 1.75 points or 0.04%. ET rose 3 points or 0.02%.

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ) gained 4.4% after billionaire William Ackman, a billionaire investor in the streaming company acquired a new stake worth over $1 billion. The move came as Netflix’s stock fell to just $4.44 on Thursday.

Levi Strauss & Co (NYSE:) Shares rose 7.6% following forecasting higher annual sales and profits than estimates. This was aided by stronger prices and strong demand.