US open: Stocks higher following yesterday's Fed-fuelled sell-off

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the green early on Thursday as major indices looked set to shrug off comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell that led to a major sell-off in the previous session. As of 1600 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.37% at 42,484.58, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.37% to 5,893.99 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.45% firmer at 19,479.31

The Dow opened 157.71 points higher on Thursday after the blue-chip index shed more than 1,100 points in the previous session as the Fed chairman adopted a more hawkish stance regarding the future of monetary policy in the US.

While the central bank cut its benchmark overnight lending rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 4.25%-4.50%, Powell indicated that the Federal Reserve was now only likely to cut interest rates twice in 2025 - for a total of just 50 basis points. Following the news, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.566% on Thursday after climbing more than 13 basis points on Wednesday.

Elsewhere on the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 14 December, according to the Labor Department, which revealed initial jobless claims fell by 22,000 to 220,000 last week, beating expectations for a smaller drop to 230,000. Outstanding claims, on the other hand, eased by a smaller reading of 5,000 to 1.87m, while the four-week-moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, edged higher by 225,500.

On another note, gross domestic product grew 3.1% in Q3, according to the Commerce Department, above consensus estimates for a 2.9% increase, while the personal consumption expenditures index rose 3.7% during the three months ended 30 September to $29.4trn.

Still on data, activity in the US mid-Atlantic region weakened at the end of 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing sector index, which slipped from a reading of -5.5 in November to -16.4 for December. Economists had forecast a reading of 3.0.

Finally, US existing home sales data rose by 4.8% in November to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.15m, according to the National Association of Realtors, the highest reading in eight months.

In the corporate space, shares in chipmaker Micron Technology were down double-digits after posting weaker-than-expected Q2 guidance.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $176.47 2.23% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $234.63 1.85% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $224.21 1.84% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $560.27 1.82% American Express Co. (AXP) $293.01 1.82% Visa Inc. (V) $315.20 1.75% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $112.53 1.06% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $441.88 1.03% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $250.34 0.92% 3M Co. (MMM) $126.61 0.86%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.47 -2.39% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $39.47 -1.69% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $492.04 -1.54% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $388.73 -1.29% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $142.82 -0.87% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $362.23 -0.46% Nike Inc. (NKE) $76.80 -0.13% Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $40.21 -0.07% McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $290.87 0.00% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%

S&P 500 - Risers

Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $182.10 13.91% TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $14.11 9.00% Accenture Plc (ACN) $372.44 7.14% Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $23.95 4.63% Carmax Inc. (KMX) $84.83 4.19% Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $21.59 3.65% United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $94.49 3.30% Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $169.96 2.75% Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $139.23 2.48% Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $63.92 2.37%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) $61.58 -21.27% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $85.68 -17.54% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $390.01 -12.85% Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $187.25 -8.39% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $70.62 -6.09% Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $138.62 -5.01% CIGNA Corp. (CI) $270.67 -4.16% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $60.99 -4.02% Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $41.25 -4.00% Dollar General Corp (DG) $73.40 -3.34%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $139.23 2.48% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $131.57 2.06% Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $905.55 1.80% Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $86.99 1.80% Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $224.40 1.76% Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $56.98 1.50% Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $79.37 1.42% Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $183.56 1.36% Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.34 1.29% Tesla Inc (TSLA) $445.39 1.20%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $85.68 -17.54% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $390.01 -12.85% Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $187.25 -8.39% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $70.62 -6.09% Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $60.99 -4.02% Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $20.86 -3.02% Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $88.90 -2.95% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $85.98 -2.68% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.47 -2.39% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $699.73 -2.08%