Buy tech sell-off, Wedbush’s Ives says: ’this is a 1996 moment, not 1999’
Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Thursday evening as markets largely maintained their bets on more interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, with focus turning to a swathe of upcoming third-quarter earnings.
Futures steadied after a mildly negative session on Wall Street, which faced some profit-taking after racing to record highs on Wednesday. Tech stocks were a major driver of Wall Street’s recent gains, amid increased optimism over artificial intelligence.
S&P 500 Futures rose 0.1% to 6,784.50 an ounce, while Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.1% to 23,312.75/oz by 19:07 ET (23:07 GMT). Dow Jones Futures rose 0.1% to 46,628.0 points.
Wall St stalls as tech rally gives way to profit-taking
Wall Street indexes fell on Thursday, facing some profit-taking after racing to record highs on gains in tech.
Optimism over AI, amid a flurry of investment and chip supply deals by majors such as NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), underpinned tech in recent weeks. Strong third-quarter revenue figures from chipmaking giant TSMC (NYSE:TSM) also lent support, with the Taiwanese firm set to report its quarterly earnings next week.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,735.11 points, while the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.1% to 23,024.63 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.5% at 46,358.42 points.
Markets were also digesting recent comments from Fed officials on the path of interest rates. But with a government shutdown delaying any major economic readings, Fed officials and investors alike were left in the dark on the U.S. economy.
New York Fed President John Williams said on Thursday he prefers more rate cuts this year due to a weakening labor market. The minutes of the Fed’s September meeting earlier this week also showed policymakers favoring more easing, but were split over just how far rates should fall.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell offered scant cues on rates when speaking on Thursday.
Markets largely maintained bets that the Fed will cut rates by an additional 25 basis points in October. CME Fedwatch showed traders pricing in an over 98% chance for such a scenario.
Q3 earnings to begin in earnest next week, banks up first
Market focus is now on the third-quarter earnings season, to see if increased trade tariffs and economic disruption hurt corporate earnings in the recent quarter.
The earnings season is set to begin in earnest next week with a host of major banks set to report. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), and asset manager BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) will report earnings on Tuesday next week.
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) is also set to report on Tuesday, while chipmaking major ASML Holding NV (AS:ASML), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will report on Wednesday.