Overview
- S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures rose after-hours results from Amazon and Apple, with Amazon up about 11.5% premarket on faster AWS growth and Apple gaining roughly 2.3% on stronger holiday and iPhone guidance.
- Thursday’s session saw the steepest declines in more than three weeks as Meta slid 11.3% and Microsoft fell around 2.9% on heavier AI-related spending plans, while Alphabet advanced on an earnings beat.
- The Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00%, and Powell said another cut in December is not a foregone conclusion, with CME FedWatch showing probabilities easing to roughly 67%–73%.
- President Trump described a tactical trade truce with Xi that includes some U.S. tariff rollbacks, Chinese moves on fentanyl precursors, resumed soybean purchases, and continued rare earth exports, with markets reacting modestly.
- Nvidia recently touched roughly $5 trillion in market value, underscoring AI’s influence on market leadership, as global central banks including the ECB and BOJ kept policy steady and Asian markets traded mixed.