Traders reacted after the closing bell rang on the New York Stock Exchange on March 20, 2024.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
Stock futures fell Wednesday night as Wall Street absorbed new earnings reports from mega-cap technology companies.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.5%. Futures, which track the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 27 points.
In after-hours trading, Metaplatforms fell 3% after the company missed the Street’s expectations for user growth and warned of higher capital spending in 2025. Microsoft’s earnings outlook disappointed investors, sending the stock down nearly 4%.
In regular trading on Wednesday, major average stock prices recorded modest declines. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell nearly 0.6%.
Investors also weighed third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) data, with the economy growing at an annualized rate of 2.8%, beating the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 3.1%. It was shown that it was lower.
Another market trigger awaits on Thursday morning: the September personal consumption expenditure price index. This is also the Federal Reserve’s recommended inflation measure. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect PCE to rise 0.2% on a monthly basis, or 2.1% from a year ago.
The PCE data, along with Friday’s October jobs report, will inform interest rate decisions on Nov. 7, when the Fed concludes its two-day policy meeting.
“Higher growth and lower inflation is exactly what people want,” said Jamie Cox, managing director at Harris Financial Group. “As long as disinflation continues, the Fed has no need to fear economic stability and growth to normalize interest rates this cycle.”
Tech earnings continued Thursday with results from tech giants Apple and Amazon. Uber, Merck and Intel are also expected to report.
In terms of economic indicators, the weekly unemployment claims report will be released Thursday morning.
