On Thursday, November 8th, U.S. markets ended mixed after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points, citing an eased job market and progress toward the 2% inflation target. Optimism over President-elect Donald Trump’s return lifted the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record highs, with global markets rallying in response.

Financials led declines among S&P sectors, reversing strong gains from the previous session as bank stocks fell sharply.

The Federal Reserve cut rates by 0.25 points to a 4.5%-4.75% range, slowing the pace of easing from September’s 0.5% cut.

In economic data, U.S. initial jobless claims rose to 221,000 in late October, while Q3 nonfarm productivity increased by 2.2% and unit labor costs grew by 1.9%. Wholesale inventories fell 0.2% in September, and natural gas stocks climbed by 69 billion cubic feet to 3.932 trillion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat and closed at 43,729.34, the S&P 500 rose 0.74% to 5,973.10, and the Nasdaq Composite soared 1.51% to finish at 19,269.46.

Asia Markets Today

• On Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.19% and ended the session at 39,468.50, led by gains in the Textile, Shipbuilding and Steel sectors.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.84% and ended the day at 8,295.10, led by gains in the Gold, IT, and Consumer Discretionary sectors.     
• India’s Nifty 50 traded lower by 0.21% at 24,148.20, and Nifty 500 was down 0.70% at 22,645.65.
• China’s Shanghai Composite slid 0.53% to close at 3,452.30, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 declined 1.00%, finishing the day at 4,104.05.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.7% and closed the session at 20,728.19.

Eurozone at 05:30 AM ET

• The European STOXX 50 index was down 1.09%.
• Germany’s DAX declined 0.99%.
• France’s CAC fell 1.13%.
• U.K.’s FTSE 100 index traded lower by 0.72%.

Commodities at 05:30 AM ET

• Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 1.64% at $71.19/bbl, and Brent was down 1.35% at $74.62/bbl.
• Oil prices edged lower as Hurricane Rafael’s impact on U.S. output eased and markets assessed Trump’s potential policies on global supply.
• Natural Gas gained 0.63% to $2.710.
• Gold was trading lower by 0.49% at $2,692.00, Silver fell 1.11% to $31.503, and Copper slipped 2.30% to $4.3290.

U.S. Futures at 05:30 AM ET

Dow futures slipped 0.04%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.03%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.14%.

Forex at 05:30 AM ET

• The U.S. dollar index declined 0.02% to 104.49, the USD/JPY was down 0.39% to 152.37, and the USD/AUD rose 0.68% to 1.5072.
• The U.S. dollar edged higher this week, buoyed by “Trump trades” but tempered by policy uncertainty. The yen rose, and the Australian dollar logged solid weekly gains.

Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock