BY THE NUMBERS

U.S. stock futures rose Wednesday, with the Nasdaq tracking for a third session of gains as tech stocks continued to dig out of last week's hole. However, the Nasdaq, as of Tuesday's close, remained more than 7% below its Sept. 2 record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500, which on Tuesday each locked in three-session winning streaks, were still 5% off their record highs on Feb. 12 and Sept. 2, respectively. (CNBC)

* Blackstone warns of a ‘lost decade’ where stock market returns are ‘anemic’ (CNBC)

On Wednesday's economic calendar, the government said this morning that August retail sales rose 0.6%. Economists had expected an increase of 1%. July's gain was revised lower to a 0.9% advance. (CNBC)

* Mortgage demand fell last week as interest rates stalled (CNBC)

At the conclusion of its two-day September meeting this afternoon, the Federal Reserve releases its latest policy statement and its quarterly update on where central bankers see economic growth, unemployment and inflation going. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell then holds a news conference. (CNBC)

* In last meeting before election, the Fed could placate markets with promise of low rates for years (CNBC)

Snowflake (SNOW), a provider of cloud-based data storage and analysis software, is set to begin trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange after pricing its initial public offering above its increased range. Snowflake is selling 28 million shares at $120 each. Last week, Snowflake revealed in a filing that Berkshire Hathaway and Salesforce bought into the IPO. (CNBC)

FedEx (FDX) shares soared about 9% in the premarket after the delivery giant reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue. Price hikes, lower fuel costs and efficiency gains countered negative impacts from the pandemic-driven surge in less-profitable residential deliveries. (Reuters)

Shares of Eli Lilly were higher in Wednesday's premarket after the American drug maker announced proof-of-concept data for a neutralizing antibody, showing a reduced rate of hospitalizations for Covid-19 patients. "Lilly intends to quickly publish the results of this interim analysis in a peer-reviewed journal and discuss appropriate next steps with global regulators," the company said in a press release. (CNBC)