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华尔街日报Stock Market Today: Dow Jones, S&P 500 Futures Slip Day After Fed's Rate Cut—Oracle, Broadcom, Costco In Focus
U.S. stock futures dropped on Thursday after Wednesday’s advances. Futures of major benchmark indices were lower.
The Federal Reserve delivered a 25 basis points cut on Wednesday, bringing the rates down to 3.5%–3.75%, a third consecutive reduction that met expectations but exposed a widening policy divide within the central bank.
Additionally, the central bank said that it will implement quantitative easing by resuming the purchase of shorter-maturity Treasury bills, approximately $40 billion per month.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.14% and the two-year bond was at 3.53%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 80.1% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | -0.16% |
| S&P 500 | -0.53% |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.72% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.01% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was down 0.52% at $683.99, while the QQQ declined 0.72% to $623.08, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Stocks In Focus
Oracle
- Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) tumbled 11.01% after posting mixed second-quarter financial results for fiscal 2026 after the market closed on Wednesday.
- It maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
Broadcom
- Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) dropped 1.98% ahead of its earnings, scheduled to be released after the closing bell. Analysts expect earnings of $1.86 per share on revenue of $17.1491 billion for the latest quarter.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AVGO maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid quality ranking. Additional performance details are available here.
Costco Wholesale
- Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) was 0.18% higher as analysts expect earnings of $5.39 per share on revenue of $6.11 billion for the latest quarter, after the closing bell.
- COST maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a strong growth ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
Adobe
- Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) was 0.62% lower despite posting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings. Adobe also said it sees fiscal 2026 GAAP EPS of $17.90 to $18.10, versus the $16.56 analyst estimate.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings shows that ADBE maintains a stronger price trend over the short term but a weak trend in the long and medium terms, with a moderate quality score. Additional information is available here.
Planet Labs
- Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) shares climbed 16.42% after reporting third-quarter revenue of $81.25 million, beating analyst estimates of $71.99 million.
- PL maintained a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor growth ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
Cues From Last Session
Industrials, materials, and consumer discretionary stocks led the gains on Wednesday, helping most S&P 500 sectors close positively, though utility stocks bucked the trend to finish lower.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | 0.33% | 23,654.16 |
| S&P 500 | 0.67% | 6,886.68 |
| Dow Jones | 1.05% | 48,057.75 |
| Russell 2000 | 1.32% | 2,559.61 |
Insights From Analysts
Expert reactions to the Federal Reserve's latest 25 basis point rate cut and resumed Treasury purchasing are sharply divided.
Michael Burry criticized the plan to restart monthly bill purchases as evidence of systemic weakness rather than stability. He stated, “I would add that if the US Banking system can’t function without $3+ trillion in reserves/life support from the Fed, that is not a sign of strength but a sign of fragility.”
Burry further warned, “The practical limit of this might be full nationalization of the US bond market – the Fed owns all $40 trillion US debt. So party on, I guess.”
Similarly, economist Peter Schiff labeled the strategy “QE5,” arguing that “QE by any other name is still inflation.”
Schiff predicted policy backfire, cautioning, “It won’t be long before the Fed expands and extends QE5 to longer-dated maturities,” while asking rhetorically, “Got gold?”
Conversely, Wall Street analysts remain optimistic. Jeffrey Roach of LPL Financial declared that “Goldilocks is here,” citing favorable economic projections.
Gina Bolvin of Bolvin Wealth Management added that the Fed aims for a soft landing without “oversteering,” though Bill Adams of Comerica Bank noted the Fed is navigating a “data vacuum.”
See Also: How to Trade Futures
Upcoming Economic Data
Here's what investors will be keeping an eye on Thursday;
- The initial jobless claims data for the week ending Dec. 6 will be out by 8:30 a.m. ET, along with the September U.S. trade deficit data.
- On Friday, Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson will speak at 8:00 a.m., whereas Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack will speak at 8:30 a.m. ET. September’s wholesale inventories will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.
Commodities, Gold, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 1.51% to hover around $57.59 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.21% to hover around $4,219.72 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,381.6 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.08% lower at the 99.1410 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 2.77% lower at $90,325.90 per coin.
Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, except India’s NIFTY 50 and Australia's ASX 200 indices. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China’s CSI 300, South Korea's Kospi, and Japan's Nikkei 225 indices fell. European markets were higher in early trade.
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