Wall Street saw a cautious tone on Thursday as major tech-heavy indexes edged lower, weighed down by mixed earnings from the mega-caps and the lingering impact of hawkish remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell the day before.
Following the Federal Reserve's widely anticipated 25-basis-point rate cut, Powell poured cold water on speculation of another move in December, stressing that an additional reduction is "far from a foregone conclusion." Traders swiftly pared bets for a year-end cut, pricing in a 65% chance versus nearly 100% just a day earlier.
The Nasdaq 100 dipped 0.7%, set to end a five-day winning streak, dragged by a steep 10% drop in Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) after the company unveiled hefty new AI-related capital spending. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) fell nearly 3% despite topping analysts' expectations, while Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) surged 4%.
Alphabet's rally capped its seventh consecutive month of gains, with a 63% advance over the past four months — its strongest stretch since the company's early trading months in 2004.
Elsewhere, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE:CMG) plunged more than 15% — its sharpest one-day loss since 2012 — after trimming its sales outlook, citing a tougher macroeconomic backdrop.
On the geopolitical front, progress in U.S.–China trade discussions offered a rare note of optimism. In the first in-person meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in six years, Washington agreed to reduce certain tariffs, while Beijing committed to ease export restrictions on rare-earth elements and tighten controls on fentanyl-related chemicals.
In commodities, gold rebounded 1.8% to $4,000 per ounce after four consecutive declines, even as the dollar strengthened.
The U.S. dollar index climbed to 99.5 — its highest since early August — with the greenback advancing nearly 1% against the Japanese yen.
In crypto trading, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) slipped for a fourth straight session, down about 2% to $108,000. Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) fell 3.2%, and Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) lost 3.8%, both ahead of quarterly earnings due after Thursday's close.
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg | 
| Dow Jones | 47,813.95 | 0.4% | 
| Russell 2000 | 2,486.01 | 0.0% | 
| S&P 500 | 6,867.50 | -0.3% | 
| Nasdaq 100 | 25,943.81 | -0.7% | 
According to Benzinga Pro data:
Stocks slated to report earnings after the close include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK), Strategy Inc., Coinbase Global Inc., Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ:MNST), Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE:MSI), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG), Republic Services Inc. (NYSE:RSG), Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE:EW), Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR), Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC), ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD), Atlassian Corp. (NASDAQ:TEAM), Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE:ED), Vici Properties Inc. (NYSE:VICI), Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR), Dexcom Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA), Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO), GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY), Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE:WY), Erie Indemnity Co. (NASDAQ:ERIE), MasTec Inc. (NYSE:MTZ), Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ:Z), Reinsurance Group of America Inc. (NYSE:RGA), and Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI).
Read now:
Image: Shutterstock