US stock index futures were sharply lower overnight following Thursday’s turbulent session. All the majors sold off sharply yesterday afternoon in a move which saw the S&P 500 hit an intra-day low of 6,870. As is usual, the dip-buyers rushed back in to take advantage of cheaper prices. This left the S&P 500 with a small loss of 0.1% on the day while the Dow and Russell 2000 both eked out a gain of 0.1%.
Source: TN Trader
But the tech-heavy NASDAQ was unable to make back all its earlier losses and ended the session down 0.7%. Microsoft weighed on tech. Investors were spooked by numbers which suggested uncertain returns from the company’s heavy investment in AI.
Shares plunged close to 10% after the company flagged slower Azure cloud growth and softer operating margin guidance, marking its worst one-day decline since March 2020.
Last night, President Trump said he would announce his nomination for the next Federal Reserve Chair on Friday morning. And he has. After a late gallop from BlackRock CIO Rick Reider, Kevin Warsh snuck up on the inside rail to secure victory. The initial stock market reaction was positive, although the dollar didn’t like the news, especially.
Overall, it looks like a good choice that most can get behind. Mr Warsh has promised to bring transparency to the US central bank and is likely to make some fundamental changes. At the same time, he doesn’t sound like a pushover. So, the President may not get all the rate cuts for which he’s so desperate.
Earlier this morning, futures on the S&P 500 broke below 6,900. But they soon bounced back. This could be an extremely important session as we head towards the weekend. After hitting a fresh all-time high above 7,000 earlier in the week, the S&P 500, along with all the other US majors, pulled back sharply.
So far, traders have been happy to buy the dip, even as they watch gold and silver crater from their own record highs. Will this continue today, or will it bring evidence of buyers’ remorse?
