Markets are showing signs of life after Wednesday's Fed-fueled drubbing. Dow Jones (DIA, Financial) futures climbed 0.8% Thursday morning, with the S&P 500 (SPY, Financial) and Nasdaq (QQQ, Financial) not far behind, both up 0.9%. Tesla (TSLA, Financial) and Nvidia (NVDA, Financial), investor darlings battered during the sell-off, are leading the recovery, each up over 2% in the morning trading. Micron Technology (MU, Financial), on the other hand, isn't sharing the good vibes, tumbling nearly 17% after issuing a grim outlook. If you thought the semiconductor sector had found stability, think again.
The damage from Wednesday's sell-off was brutal. The Dow tanked 2.6%, logging its tenth straight loss—the worst streak since 1974. The S&P 500 dropped 3%, while the Nasdaq took a beating, down 3.6%. This all came on the heels of the Federal Reserve cutting rates by 0.25%, as expected, but throwing a curveball by signaling a more cautious pace for future cuts in 2025. Fed Chair Jerome Powell added fuel to the fire with his upbeat comments on the economy, which contradicted the central bank's modest growth projections. Meanwhile, 10-year Treasury yields spiked to 4.55%, their highest since May, and Bitcoin (BTC-USD, Financial) dipped below the psychological $100,000 mark before clawing back to $102,000.
As the dust settles, investors are recalibrating. Tech heavyweights Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), Amazon (AMZN, Financial), and Alphabet (GOOGL) are inching upward, while Apple (AAPL, Financial) is lagging slightly. The big question now: Is this a fleeting bounce or the start of something bigger? With Powell's mixed signals and macro uncertainty looming large, investors have their work cut out for them navigating the road ahead.
