US equity benchmarks went up slightly Thursday, ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting that will take place later on the same day.
After Donald Trump’s victory in the US 2024 presidential election, benchmark averages continued to rise and reached new records.
The S&P 500 Index rose by 0.5% at the time this article was written, and the Nasdaq Composite gained more than 1%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average remained largely unchanged from its previous closing. The three benchmarks had reached their respective records earlier in the day.
The Dow Jones Index climbed over 1,500 points on Wednesday as a result of Trump’s win. CNBC reported that the S&P 500 rose by 2.5%, marking its best day since the election.
Scott Helfstein is the head of Global X ETFs’ investment strategy. He told CNBC that now “the results are out and financial markets can breath a bit easier, without worrying about a long election process.”
Geopolitical events can cause investors to overreact or underreact. The price of assets can be affected by these events, which are often dramatic. However, fundamentals always win.
Gold prices have recovered after Wednesday’s steep declines. Oil prices, however, fell by more than 1 percent as investors assessed what the US election would mean for the oil market.
Stocks in the financial sector that surged Wednesday have fallen slightly today.
JPMorgan Chase shares fell by 2% and American Express’s dropped by 1.7% today, weighing on the Dow Jones index.
Stocks of tech companies rise
Apple Corporation and NVIDIA Corporation both gained over 1%.
Apple shares were up by 1.3% at time of publication, and chip maker NVIDIA was also higher.
VanEck Semiconductor ETF rose by more than 2.5%, and Arm Holdings increased by over 6.5%. Intel shares were up 3.4% during this session.
Arm Holdings shares rose after the company reported earnings that exceeded expectations.
Lyft Shares rally
Lyft’s shares jumped by 28% Thursday after the ride-hailing service announced positive results for its third quarter.
Analysts’ estimates for revenue and future guidance were exceeded by the company.
CNBC reports that the ride-hailing service now expects bookings between $4.28 and $4.35 billion for the fourth quarter. FactSet’s consensus estimate was $4.23.
Bank of America also reiterated its Buy rating for the stock following the positive earnings and highlighted Uber’s discount valuation in comparison with its shares.
Trump Media and Technology shares have also lost their gains since the day of election on Thursday.
The stock of Donald Trump, the president-elect’s new company, fell by 16 percent to less than $30. Stocks had risen over the past couple of days as Trump was elected president in 2024.
Fed meeting eyed
Now, the focus is on the US Fed meeting later today. Today, the US Fed is expected to cut interest rates at its two-day conference, which concludes today.
The traders have put a probability of 98.7% that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis point.
The central bank has already cut its interest rates by 50 basis points in September.
Richard Flynn told CNBC that it was difficult to predict whether the easing would continue until after the US elections and its implications on inflation and currency were clear.
In the short-term, however, investors should be able to get some clarity from today’s statement after a week of events that have impacted the market.
The number of people who filed for unemployment benefits in the US for the first-time last week was in line with the expectations, at 221,000. Dow Jones analysts had predicted 220,000 claims for the week ending Nov. 2.
Posts such as Dow, S&P and Nasdaq record highs before Fed decision, Lyft soars by 28% while DJT loses gains, may change with updates.
