Key stock indices on Wall Street were mixed on Thursday after mixed financial reports from major technology firms and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell raised doubts about further interest rate cuts this year.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 25 basis points but Chair Jerome Powell signaled a subtle shift toward a more conservative stance, indicating that further rate cut — particularly the expected cut in December — are not guaranteed.
Markets digested a generally upbeat meeting between the US and Chinese leaders in Busan, South Korea. Marking their first talks in six years, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to de-escalate the trade war, with the US lowering some tariffs and China committing to sustained supplies of critical rare earths.
As of 10 AM Eastern Time, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%.
At 09:30 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 196.40 points, or 0.41%, to 47,435.60, the S&P 500 lost 35.33 points, or 0.51%, to 6,855.79 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 173.98 points, or 0.73%, to 23,784.50.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.09% from 4.08% late Wednesday.
Gainers and Losers
Google parent Alphabet stock climbed 5.3% after its quarterly profit and revenue easily topped Wall Street estimates.
Meta Platforms shares tumbled 11.3%.
Microsoft stock sank 2.5% despite the company reported stronger profit and revenue for the third quarter.
Chipotle Mexican Grill shares tumbled 18% after the restaurant chain cut its forecast for an important underlying measure of sales growth.
Eli Lilly stock rose 1.7% after the drugmaker delivered stronger quarterly profit and revenue.
Visa shares added 1.5% following its better-than-expected earnings.
Bullion Market
Gold prices extended gains on Thursday, primarily buoyed by a key interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. Spot gold climbed 1% to $3,970.36 per ounce (1343 GMT), though it had seen momentum push it nearly 2% higher earlier in the session. The rally was shared across the metals sector: spot silver rose 1.7% to $48.34, platinum gained 0.9% to $1,598.55, and palladium advanced 1% to $1,415.52.
US gold futures for December delivery remained steady at $3,992.40 per ounce.
