US pre-open: Stocks to extend gains after Fed meeting

(Sharecast News) - US stocks were expected to rise for the fourth straight day on Thursday as investors continued to show optimism that the Federal Reserve could potentially have reached the end of its rate-hiking cycle. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.3% early on, while the S&P 500 rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq gained 0.7%. The S&P 500 has risen every day this week after hitting a five-month low last Friday.

Stocks advanced on Wednesday after the conclusion of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, at which policymakers kept rates unchanged for the second straight meeting. While chair Jerome Powell didn't go as far as calling time on future rate hikes, many believed his comments at the following press conference were relatively dovish.

"Powell kept the door open to a rate hike in December, but did not seem very eager," said Philip Marey, analyst at Rabobank. "We still expect the bond market to do the Fed's work, making a December hike redundant."

Acting as a backdrop, both ISM manufacturing and ADP private-job creation data came in well below forecasts, adding to expectations that the US economic growth may be starting to cool, in signs that restrictive financial conditions are working.

Initial jobless claims data is due out at 0830 ET and expected to show claims remaining flat in the week to 27 October at 210,000, as the focus begins to turn to the government's official non-farm payrolls figure, expected on Friday.

Also helping sentiment was newsflow from Israel, where hopes of a temporary de-escalation in conflict rose after US president Joe Biden added to calls for a humanitarian "pause" to allow hostages being held in the Gaza Strip to be released.

All eyes on Apple

Tech titan Apple will be making headlines ahead of its latest earnings report due out after the closing bell. Analysts expect the company to report a 1% year-on-year sales decline to $89.3bn for the third quarter, while the market will keep a close eye on the current outlook, with the last three months of the year being Apple's most important in terms of revenue.

Starbucks shares soared after-hours following the coffee giant's quarterly earnings with smashed expectations. Same-store sales were up 8% on the back of improved average customer order sizes and increased footfall.

Disney futures were edging higher on the news that it is to pay Comcast $8.6bn for its minority stake in streaming service Hulu, giving the entertainment company complete control.