The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Friday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the rally seen in the previous session.
Traders may take a breather following the surge during Thursday’s trading, which lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs.
With the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut now in the rearview mirror, traders may also be questioning what will be the next catalyst for the markets.
A lack of major U.S. economic data is also likely to keep traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several key reports next week.
While the Fed has already signaled plans to continue lowering rates in the coming months, the data could still impact market sentiment.
Reports on durable goods orders, new home sales and consumer confidence are likely to attract attention next week along with a report on personal income and spending that includes the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.
After ending Wednesday’s session moderately lower following late-day volatility, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels late in the trading session but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 522.09 points or 1.3 percent to 42,025.19, the Nasdaq soared 440.68 points or 2.5 percent to 18,013.96 and the S&P 500 surged 95.38 points or 1.7 percent to 5,713.64.
The rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to slash interest rates by half a percentage point.
With the Fed saying officials have gained greater confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2 percent target, the central bank lowered the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 4.75 to 5.00 percent.
The Fed was almost universally expected to cut rates for the first time since March 2020, but there was some debate over whether it would lower rates by 25 or 50 basis points.
Fed officials also forecast continued rate cuts over the coming months and into next year, generating optimism the central bank will be able to engineer a soft landing for the economy.
Adding to the optimism about the economy, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a nearly four-month low in the week ended September 14th.
The report said initial jobless claims slid to 219,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 231,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 230,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected decline, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 216,000 in the week ended May 18th.
Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring by 4.3 percent.
Substantial strength was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 3.5 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The index ended the day at its best closing level in over a month.
Networking stocks also showed a significant move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 3.1 percent to a record closing high.
Banking, oil service, and housing stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.