Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Rise as Market Looks to Extend Post-Election Rally; Federal Reserve Rate Decision Looms

Stock futures are higher Thursday morning as the equities market looks to extend a post-election rally that sent major indexes to record highs.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 were up 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, in recent trading, while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat. The major indexes turned in their best one-day performances since 2022 on Wednesday following Donald Trump’s decision victory in the presidential election.

Investor attention today will be squarely focused on the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to cut its benchmark lending rate by a quarter percentage point. The decision is due to be announced at 2:00 p.m. ET, following the Fed’s two-day policy meeting.

Investors will closely scrutinize the Fed’s policy statement, as well as Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference, for insights on the central bank’s views on the health of the economy and what that means for future rate decisions. The Fed cut rates in September for the first time in four years and indicated it would continue doing so, but has stressed that their decisions will depend on economic data.

Among noteworthy stocks on the move in premarket trading, Qualcomm (QCOM) shares were up nearly 6% after the chipmaker reporter quarterly earnings that topped Wall Street expectations and announced a $15 billion stock buyback. Shares of Arm Holdings (ARM) were down 3% after the chip designer issued a disappointing sales outlook.

Shares of Zillow (Z) were up 14% after the real estate company reported strong third-quarter sales growth, while Lyft (LYFT) shares soared 23% after the ride-hailing company reported better-than-expected results and boosted its outlook.

Large-cap technology stocks were mostly higher ahead of the bell, with Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META) all inching ahead. Tesla (TSLA) was down slightly after gaining 15% yesterday amid optimism about what a Trump presidency could mean for the EV maker given CEO Elon Musk’s ties to the president-elect.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which has risen in recent weeks as investors have scaled back their expectations about how aggressive the Fed will be in cutting rates, was down slightly this morning at 4.41%, hovering near their highest levels since early July.

Gold futures were up about 0.5% at $2,670 an ounce, after sliding 3% yesterday as the U.S. dollar strengthened following the election results. Bitcoin was trading at around $75,000, after hitting record highs above $76,000 on Wednesday.