U.S. stock futures were pointing to a strong start on Thursday, after a Fed rate decision that offered few surprises and banner earnings from tech heavyweight Meta Platforms.
What’s happening
-
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
+0.17%
rose 58 points, or 0.2%, to 35742. -
S&P 500 futures
ES00,
+0.57%
gained 26 points, or 0.6%, to 4621. -
Nasdaq 100 futures
NQ00,
+1.21%
increased 176 points, or 1.1%, to 15787.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
rose 82 points, or 0.23%, to 35520, the S&P 500
SPX,
declined 1 points, or 0.02%, to 4567, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
dropped 17 points, or 0.12%, to 14127.
The Dow rose for the 13th straight session, the longest winning run since Jan. 20, 1987.
What’s driving markets
The Fed on Wednesday hiked interest rates by a quarter point to a range between 5.25% and 5.5%, a decision that financials market suggest could be the final rate hike this cycle, even though officials at the central bank kept their options open.
Strategists at HSBC say the fed funds target will be kept at this new range until the second quarter of 2024, followed by 75 basis points of cuts next year.
“The lack of hawkish additions or tweaks in the statement together with [Jerome] Powell’s press conference and the change of language in the statement from “modest” to “moderate” growth were – on balance – taken initially as a slight positive by risk assets,” they said, adding they expect the 2-year Treasury yields
TMUBMUSD02Y,
to trade within their recent range of 4.6% to 5%.
Meta Platforms
META,
was also providing a boost, as shares of the Facebook and Instagram owner climbed 8% following better-than-expected earnings and a stronger-than-forecast revenue outlook for the current quarter.
Ahead of key U.S. inflation data on Friday, there’s a bevy of reports including second-quarter GDP, weekly jobless claims, durable-goods orders and the trade balance in goods, as well as a rate decision from the European Central Bank.
Comcast
CMCSA,
McDonald’s
MCD,
and after the close, Intel
INTC,
are among the companies due to report results.
This post was originally published on Market Watch
