Stocks were gaining ground Thursday morning as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s latest assessment of the economy and awaited a handful of noteworthy earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each up 0.4% about 45 minutes after the opening bell, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%. The major indexes have gained ground in three of the past four sessions, as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq look to snap four-week losing streaks that have been fueled by investor concerns about tariffs and the outlook for the economy.
On Wednesday, the Fed—after announcing a widely expected decision to leave its key interest rate unchanged—said that the economy continues to expand at a “solid pace.” Nonetheless, members of the Fed’s policy committee have scaled back their growth forecasts and raised their projections for inflation amid increased “uncertainty around the economic outlook.” While committee members maintained their expectations for two rate cuts in 2025, Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed is in no rush to adjust policy as it seeks clarity on the impact of Trump administration policies.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which has fallen in recent months as concerns about the economy have grown, was at 4.20% this morning, down from 4.26% at yesterday’s close. The yield, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, is trading at its lowest levels in more than a week.
Shares of mega-cap technology companies, which helped lead yesterday’s rally, were mostly higher, led by a near 3% gain for Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META). AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) rose about 1%, while Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Tesla (TSLA) were also up slightly. Alphabet (GOOG) and Broadcom (AVGO) lost ground.
Accenture (ACN) shares were down 8% after the professional services firm reported delivered a mixed earnings report amid concerns that the federal government’s drive to cut costs will hurt the company’s business.
Sporting goods company Nike (NKE), package delivery giant FedEx (FDX) and memory chip maker Micron (MU) are each due to release quarterly earnings reports after the closing bell today. Investors will be closely watching the numbers, as well as comments from executives, for clues about the state of the economy. Shares of Nike and FedEx were slightly higher this morning, while Micron rose 2%.
Gold futures were holding steady at $3,040 an ounce, after touching a new record high this morning, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 0.5% to $67.50 per barrel. Bitcoin was at $86,300, up from an overnight low of $84,800.
Accenture Slides Amid Concerns About Future Growth
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Accenture (ACN) shares fell sharply Thursday after the professional services firm reported higher revenue but lower profit than analysts expected for its fiscal 2025 second quarter.
The stock was down 8% in recent trading, leading S&P 500 decliners, amid concerns about the company’s growth prospects as the economy slows and the U.S. government reins in spending.
Accenture posted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.82 on revenue of $16.66 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had projected $2.85 and $16.61 billion, respectively.
The company lifted the bottom of its full-year revenue range projection to 5% growth from 4% previously. It also raised the lower end of its EPS forecast to $12.55 from $12.43.
Ahead of Thursday’s report, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies analysts cut their price targets for the stock, citing an uncertain environment among the firm’s clients. Jefferies said they see Accenture’s clients as having “become a bit more cautious in the past month.”
Morgan Stanley analysts called the post-earnings environment for Accenture “challenging” given the Trump administration’s focus on government spending cuts, along with a “discretionary spending pullback in response to restrictive trade measures” across the economy.
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Accenture shares have lost more than 20% over the past 12 months.
Boeing Stock Price Levels to Watch After Yesterday’s Surge
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Boeing (BA) shares turned in their best one-day performance in nearly two years on Wednesday following bullish remarks from the plane maker’s chief financial officer, news of a new aircraft order and a favorable deliveries outlook from analysts.
The stock gained nearly 7% yesterday, leading advancers on both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. With the surge, Boeing shares narrowed their year-to-date decline to 2.5%, roughly in line with the performance of the S&P 500 over the stretch.
After a bullish engulfing pattern marked the end of a three-week pullback in Boeing shares earlier this month, the stock has continued to trend higher, closing above both the 50- and 200-day moving averages in Wednesday’s trading session. It’s also worth pointing out the moving averages formed a golden cross early last month, a chart pattern that signals the start of a new uptrend.
Importantly, Wednesday’s move was backed by the highest volume in more than two weeks, indicating buying activity by larger market participants, such as institutional investors and hedge funds. Moreover, the relative strength index (RSI) has climbed back above the 50 threshold to confirm bullish price momentum.
Investors should monitor major support levels on Boeing’s chart around $165 and $146, while also watching key resistance levels near $192 and $217.
Boeing shares were down slightly in premarket trading Thursday at around $172.
Read the full technical analysis piece here.
Major Stock Index Futures Point to Lower Open
1 hr 40 min ago
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4% in recent trading.
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S&P 500 futures slipped 0.5%.
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Nasdaq 100 future were off 0.6%.
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