Last Updated: 4:05 PM EST
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Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the green after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points. Indeed, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) and the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 1.54% and 0.74%, respectively.
Furthermore, the Department of Labor released its Initial Jobless Claims report, which came in better than expected. In the past week, 221,000 people filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. Expectations were for 223,000 individuals.
In addition, Continuing Jobless Claims, which measures the number of unemployed people who qualify for unemployment insurance, came in at 1.892 million. This was above the forecast of 1.88 million and higher than last week’s print of 1.853 million.
It’s worth noting that Continuing Jobless Claims have been on an overall uptrend since hitting record lows in September 2022, as the layoffs from large companies continue to impact the workforce.
Separately, the Atlanta Federal Reserve updated its latest GDPNow reading, which allows it to estimate GDP growth in real time. The “nowcast” becomes more accurate as more economic data is released throughout the quarter. Currently, it estimates that the economy will expand by about 2.5% in the fourth quarter. This is higher than its previous estimate of 2.4%.
First Published: 3:59 AM EST
U.S. stock futures were stable on Thursday morning, after a significant rally in the previous session, driven by Donald Trump’s victory. Major indices hit new record highs due to optimism about potential economic benefits from the Trump administration. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and the S&P 500 (SPX) were up 0.19%, 0.2%, and 0.15%, respectively, at 3:28 a.m. EST, November 7.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones soared 3.57%, the S&P 500 climbed 2.53%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.95%. Further, the Russell 2000, an index of small-cap stocks, saw an even stronger rally, jumping over 5%.
The positive market sentiment is driven by expectations that Trump’s second term could help boost corporate profits through tax cuts and deregulation. As a result, the financial, energy, and industrial sectors, which are poised to benefit from these policy changes, witnessed gains.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and the U.S. dollar benefited from the post-election optimism. However, certain solar stocks underperformed over concerns that Trump will hamper the renewable sector’s growth.
Moving on, the market’s attention is now centered on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision due today. Investors widely expect the central bank to implement another interest rate cut, following its previous reduction announced in September. Importantly, this would mark the second consecutive rate cut since 2020.
Prior to the Fed’s announcement, traders will monitor other key economic data releases, including weekly jobless claims and wholesale inventories.
On the earnings front, companies such as Moderna (MRNA), Lucid (LCID), Airbnb (ABNB), Block (SQ), DraftKings (DKNG), and Pinterest (PINS) are set to report their results today.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield is up at the time of writing, floating near 4.428%. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures trended lower, hovering near $71.56 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European markets opened higher today as investors digested the U.S. presidential election’s outcome. Also, traders looked ahead to monetary policy decisions from the U.S. Fed and Bank of England.
Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Higher on Thursday
Most of the Asia-Pacific indices traded higher following Trump’s victory. Also, the investors celebrated China’s better-than-expected October export data.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 2.02%. Further, China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices gained 2.57% and 2.44%, respectively. Moreover, Japan’s Topix index finished higher by 1%, but the Nikkei index declined by 0.25%.
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