<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. stock futures inched higher on Thursday as investors weighed a mixed round of mega-cap technology earnings alongside the Federal Reserve\u2019s decision to keep interest rates unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By 05:25 ET, Dow Jones futures were up 60 points, S&P 500 futures gained 16 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 85 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The S&P 500 briefly crossed the 7,000 mark on Wednesday before closing nearly flat after the Fed held rates in the 3.50% to 3.75% range, marking its first pause after three consecutive cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fed Holds Rates Steady<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Federal Reserve cited still-elevated inflation, steady growth, and a stabilizing labor market in its statement, offering little guidance on when cuts may resume. The decision provided a sense of stability, but reinforced expectations that any easing ahead will be gradual and data-driven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meta Jumps, Microsoft Slips<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Earnings from tech giants drove early moves. Meta surged more than 7% in premarket trading after forecasting first-quarter revenue above expectations and highlighting strong advertising demand and AI momentum. The company also announced a sharp increase in capital spending this year, underscoring the scale of its AI push.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Microsoft shares fell after the company flagged heavier-than-expected AI investment and slightly slower growth in its Azure cloud division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tesla moved higher premarket after beating quarterly estimates and signaling a stronger pivot toward artificial intelligence as its core auto business remains under pressure. Apple\u2019s results later today are expected to draw close scrutiny for signs of cost pressures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gold and Oil Extend Powerful Rally<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gold continued its historic surge, climbing toward $5,600 an ounce amid reports that Washington may consider new military action against Iran. Silver also hit fresh records above $119, while copper reached a new all-time high, driven by safe-haven demand, a weaker dollar, and policy uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oil prices advanced sharply on fears of potential supply disruptions from Iran. Brent rose to $68.57 a barrel and WTI climbed to $64.44, leaving both benchmarks up about 5% since Monday and at their highest levels since late September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Markets remain caught between resilient corporate earnings, cautious central bank policy, and a rapidly intensifying geopolitical backdrop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. stock futures inched higher on Thursday as investors weighed a mixed round of mega-cap technology earnings alongside the Federal Reserve\u2019s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. By 05:25 ET, Dow Jones futures were up 60 points, S&P 500 futures gained 16 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 85 points. The S&P 500 briefly crossed …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":53440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6827,49,39,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-global-stock-markets","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123190,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123189\/revisions\/123190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}