S&P 500 futures dipped on Tuesday night as investors turned their attention to the Federal Reserve's upcoming rate policy decision. Futures linked to the broad market index saw a decline of 0.22%, while Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.42%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures experienced a slight decrease of 19 points, or 0.05%.

In after-hours trading, Amazon showed promising performance, with a 2% increase following better-than-expected earnings and revenue in the first quarter. However, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices took a hit, tumbling 7.5% after issuing an in-line revenue forecast for the current quarter. Super Micro Computer also experienced a decline of 11.4% as its revenue fell slightly below Street consensus estimates.

During Tuesday's main trading session, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 suffered losses of over 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite saw a significant decline of 2%. These losses were further magnified by the jump in bond yields after the higher-than-anticipated employment cost index for the first quarter, raising concerns about the Federal Reserve maintaining high interest rates.

April came to a sour end for major averages, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posting losses of more than 4%. The Dow experienced its worst monthly performance since September 2022, falling 5%.

Traders are now focused on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday afternoon. While the central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady, market participants will scrutinize Fed Chair Jerome Powell's commentary for any indications of when rates might decrease. Sam Stovall, CFRA's chief investment strategist, expressed concern that the Fed could take a slower approach to lowering interest rates, citing sticky inflation and the need to see inflation numbers start to decrease.

Additionally, several notable companies are set to release their earnings reports on Wednesday. Pfizer, Kraft Heinz, and CVS Health will report their quarterly results before the market opens, while Qualcomm and DoorDash are scheduled to report in the afternoon.

Among the 11 sectors within the S&P 500, utilities managed to eke out a narrow gain in April, with a 1.6% increase. Energy saw a slight loss of 0.9%, and consumer staples slipped by 1.1%. Utilities' gains were supported by NextEra Energy, which had a notable 4.8% increase in April. Consolidated Edison and Dominion Energy also contributed to the sector's performance, rising by 3.9% and 3.6% respectively.

Utilities, known for their reliable dividends, have gained attention as investors seek income-producing assets to cushion their portfolios during market volatility. NextEra Energy offers a dividend yield of 3.1%, while ConEd yields 3.5%.

Bank of America recently revised its outlook, pushing back its expectation for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates by six months to December from June. The bank also raised its projection for the benchmark fed funds rate to end at 3.5%-3.75%, up from the previous estimate of 3.0%-3.25%. This adjustment suggests a reduced expectation of quarter-point reductions from the Fed, from nine to seven.

In extended trading, Starbucks saw its shares drop by almost 10% after missing fiscal second-quarter estimates for earnings and revenue. Pinterest, on the other hand, experienced a surge of nearly 19% following better-than-expected earnings and revenue in the first quarter. Super Micro Computer faced a decline of nearly 8% after missing revenue estimates for the fiscal third quarter but provided strong fourth-quarter revenue guidance.

As the market awaits the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates, uncertainty and volatility persist in tech stocks as investors remain cautious about ongoing economic trends and inflation concerns.