U.S. stock futures traded mixed early Thursday as investors reacted to the highly awaited meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents and diminishing hopes for further rate cuts following Fed Chair Powell’s comments. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) and the S&P 500 (SPX) were up 0.04% and 0.03%, respectively, while those on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were down 0.15% at 4:23 a.m. EDT on October 30.
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During Wednesday’s regular trading session, the three major indexes closed mixed despite the Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate cut. Powell’s remark that a rate cut in December is not guaranteed shows that the Fed is being more cautious than the markets expected. The Dow Jones had briefly touched a record high before closing down 0.16%. Also, the S&P 500 ended flat, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.55%.
After the markets closed, earnings results from Big Tech companies Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Meta Platforms (META) saw mixed investor reactions despite all beating analyst consensus on earnings and sales.
MSFT stock dropped nearly 4% in after-hours trading after disclosing a $3.1 billion hit to earnings due to its investment in OpenAI. Similarly, META stock plunged 7.5% after incurring a one-time tax charge of $15.93 billion. Conversely, GOOGL shares rose 6.7% after reporting a 16% year-over-year jump in sales, crossing $100 billion for the first time.
Meanwhile, chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) reached a $5 trillion market capitalization yesterday following its GTC Conference in Washington, D.C., where it announced over $500 billion in orders for new Blackwell and Rubin AI chips and introduced several new partnerships.
The high-stakes meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded on a positive note. Trump said he reached a one-year deal with China on rare earths and critical minerals and announced that the U.S. will lower fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese goods to 10%.
On the earnings front, Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Mastercard (MA), Coinbase (COIN), Strategy (MSTR), and Reddit (RDDT) are scheduled to release their quarterly numbers.
Notably, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was up, floating near 4.07%. WTI crude oil futures were trending lower, hovering near $59.85 per barrel as of the last check. Additionally, the Gold Spot U.S. dollar price decreased to nearly $3,965 per ounce on Thursday.
Elsewhere, in Europe, stocks opened mixed on October 30, as investors prepare for a slew of corporate earnings announcements and the European Central Bank’s (ECB) interest rate decision. Experts predict the ECB to keep rates unchanged at 2%.
Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Lower Today
Asia-Pacific markets traded mostly lower on Thursday as investors digested the outcome of the Trump-Xi meeting.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 0.26%. In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.73%, and the Shenzhen Component lost 0.93%. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.04%, and the Topix gained 0.69% as the Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady at 0.50%.
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