Dow futures hovered near the flatline Thursday night after the Dow Jones Industrial Average achieved a historic close above 42,000, driven by optimism surrounding the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut.
Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 0.18%, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.26%. FedEx saw a significant drop, losing 11% in after-hours trading after revising its full-year earnings outlook downward. In contrast, Nike surged over 7% following the announcement of CEO John Donahoe’s upcoming departure on October 13.
During the regular trading session, the S&P 500 rose 1.7%, surpassing the 5,700 mark for the first time, while the Dow gained more than 500 points to close at its record high. The Nasdaq Composite also climbed, advancing 2.5%.
Positive unemployment data and the Fed’s half-point rate cut bolstered investor sentiment, with initial jobless claims for the week ending September 14 coming in lower than expected at 219,000. Chris Larkin from E-Trade noted, “Lower-than-expected jobless claims won’t raise any immediate concerns about the labor market slowing too much.”
This marked the Fed’s first rate cut since 2020. All three major averages are on track for weekly gains, with the S&P 500 up nearly 1.6%, the Dow rising 1.5%, and the Nasdaq leading with a 1.9% advance.
