Stock futures fell on Thursday after losses in the previous session after the Federal Reserve posted another interest rate hike and signaled that there will be no pivot or rate cut in the future.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 23 points lower, or 0.1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1% and 0.2%.
Traders had anticipated the central bank’s 0.75 percentage point rate hike and initially read the Fed statement as dovish, sending stocks higher on Wednesday after the decision. Those gains were reversed when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said it was “premature” to talk about a pause in rate hikes and that the terminal rate would likely be higher than previously indicated .
“We still have a way to go and the incoming data since our last meeting suggests that the final level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected,” he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Wednesday’s trading session down 416 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 fell 2% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.8%.
Markets will likely continue to seesaw until it becomes clear that inflation has cooled and the Fed has stopped raising rates. Any data that shows the US economy is not slowing as the central bank tightens policy will likely weigh on stocks.
The next major report is the non-farm payrolls for October, which will be released on Friday.
“You get a good number of jobs, meaning a good unemployment rate that doesn’t go up, then the market has a lot of problems,” said Guy Adami, director of advisor advocacy at Private Advisor Group , on CNBC. Quick money.”
Meanwhile, corporate earnings season continued, with Qualcomm, Roku and Fortinet falling sharply after reporting disappointing quarterly results and forward-looking guidance.