Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the morning trading on November 07, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures hovered near the flatline Thursday night after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit records in a postelection rally and investors weighed the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate cut.
S&P 500 futures and futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average each added less than 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed.
During Thursday’s trading session, the broad market index gained 0.7% to close at a new record. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.5% and ended the session above 19,000 for the first time. Meanwhile, the 30-stock Dow was marginally lower. The three major averages all hit intraday record highs during the session.
The moves higher continue the market rally from Wednesday in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, during which the Dow and S&P 500 rose to their best days since November 2022.
Meanwhile, the Fed lowered interest rates by a quarter point, in-line with the market’s expectations. Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted he is “feeling good” about the economy during a press conference.
However, “the path of Fed cuts is cloudier today than it was a week ago before the election,” said Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X ETFs.
Investors generally view a Republican-controlled government as more favorable on expectations for deregulation, the potential for more mergers and acquisitions and proposed tax cuts. However, concerns over the large federal deficit and increased tariffs have also sparked concerns of an uptick in inflation.
“The market is signaling that a Trump administration would be good for growth and risk assets, but the combination of faster growth with new tariffs would be inflationary,” he added. “While the Fed feels the risks are balanced between stable prices and maximum employment, this could shift quickly increasing the risk to reaccelerating inflation.”
The postelection surge put all three of the major averages are on pace for strong weekly gains, with the S&P 500 up about 4.3% and the Dow higher by nearly 4%. Both indexes are on track for their best week since November 2023. The Nasdaq is the outperformer of the three, toting a 5.6% advance through Thursday’s close.