U.S. stock futures paused on Thursday as investors took time to process the results from President Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the recent Federal Reserve policy meeting, and varying performances from major tech firms.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 0.2%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, both significantly influenced by technology stocks, showed some back-and-forth with minor gains and losses.
The market seemed to lose some steam after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized that a December interest rate reduction was “not a foregone conclusion.” This comment followed the central bank’s recent cut of a quarter percentage point in the benchmark interest rate, underscoring the differences of opinion among policymakers.
As for Trump’s meeting with Xi, it didn’t really inspire much enthusiasm. The hoped-for deal didn’t quite come together; essentially, the U.S. planned to ease some tariffs in exchange for China lifting restrictions on rare earth supplies and resuming purchases of American soybeans.
Later in the day, investors were on edge awaiting quarterly results from giants like Apple and Amazon after Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft shared their earnings on Wednesday night.
Alphabet’s shares climbed over 7% after its parent company posted better-than-expected results. However, on the other hand, Meta slid nearly 8%, and Microsoft dropped almost 3%, as investors seemed worried about their future prospects.
