12/19/2024
【Pre-market Analysis】
U.S. stock futures rebounded from a sell-off the day before on Thursday, driven by the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance on the direction of interest rates.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) rose 0.77%, while futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) rose 0.74%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) also rose about 0.8%.
The Federal Reserve reduced the number of rate cuts expected next year to two, and Chairman Jerome Powell said even Wednesday's decision - a quarter-point cut - was "hard to tell." The market interpreted the Fed's move as a "hawkish rate cut" and responded accordingly, causing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record their worst day since the summer.
Meanwhile, the blue-chip Dow Jones is in the midst of its longest losing streak in 50 years. Another day of decline on Thursday would be the 11th consecutive trading day for the index to fall. The Dow is still up more than 12% this year.
On the economic front, the third estimate of U.S. GDP for the third quarter showed that the economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.1%, up from the previous reading of 2.8%. Other data released Thursday morning showed that weekly unemployment claims were 220,000 in the week ending December 14, down from 242,000 in the previous week.
