Thursday saw a rise in stock futures as traders wagered that the Federal Reserve is almost done raising interest rates and evaluated a new batch of company earnings.
S&P 500 (\GSPC) futures increased by 0.7%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average (\DJI) futures increased by 0.5%. With futures up around 1.1%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) led the increase.
Following the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain interest rates at their highest level in 22 years, all three major indicators ended Wednesday strongly higher. The US central bank will continue to maintain unchanged interest rates in December, according to the market’s general interpretation of Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks on the decision.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders are pricing in an 85% possibility that there won’t be any more rate rises this year, up from 59% chances the day before the policymakers’ meeting.
However, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), stated to Yahoo Finance that he believes “stickier” inflation will force the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates by an extra 75 basis points.
Now that earnings season is drawing nearer, the highlight of a busy Thursday is Apple’s (AAPL) quarterly report, which is coming after hours. Following a mixed bag of reports thus far from US tech companies, the main focus will be on what its findings reveal on the iPhone situation in China and worldwide consumer spending.
In the meanwhile, pre-market trading saw a sharp increase in Starbucks (SBUX) shares as the coffee retailer exceeded revenue and profit projections. Shopify (SHOP) saw a 15% increase in share price after reporting that it generated a profit in the third quarter due to its use of AI.
The main US market indexes were ready to build on their gains from the previous day on Thursday as investors evaluated Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, remarks following the central bank’s decision to maintain interest rates at current levels.
S&P 500 (\GSPC) futures gained 0.71%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average (\DJI) futures increased by 0.50%, or 168 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) had a 1.09% increase in contracts.