FYI: The U.S. central bank cut interest rates for the first time in more than a decade on Wednesday, citing “global developments” along with “muted inflation” as reasons for easing monetary conditions.
However, Powell told reporters in a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee’s rate decision that the central bank’s rate cut was a “midcycle adjustment.”
General Motors, DuPont and Verizon are among some of the major companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly results on Thursday morning.
U.S. stock index futures were lower Thursday morning, after the Federal Reserve dampened hopes of a lengthy easing cycle following a 25-basis-point rate cut.
At around 03:00 a.m. ET, Dow futures dipped 36 points, indicating a negative open of more than 12 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were slightly lower.
Global stocks wavered a day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates but did not signal that more stimulus was on the way.
The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.2% in early morning trading, with gains for banks and financial services balancing losses in the basic resources sector.
Shares of U.K. medical-device maker ConvaTec Group jumped 11.7% after it reported falling profit in the first half of the year but backed its full-year guidance. London Stock Exchange Group shares also climbed, by 7.4%, after it said Thursday it will buy Refinitiv.
In Asia, China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ticked down 0.9%.
The latest round of U.S.-China trade talks also concluded on Wednesday without a breakthrough. The next round will be held in September.
U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell disappointed investors when he rolled back expectations for future interest-rate cuts.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged up on Thursday to 2.054%, from 2.034% on Wednesday. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the currency against a basket of its peers, climbed 0.2%.
In commodities, global benchmark Brent crude fell 1.1% to 64.35 a barrel. Gold dropped 1.4%.
Corporate earnings for the second quarter have so far surprised investors with a stream of better-than-expected results. Investors will be looking to see if that continues with a slew of reports due today from firms including Cigna Corp. , S&P Global Inc., General Motors Co. , Verizon Communications Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp.
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-waver-on-fed-policy-outlook-11564647018Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-31/asia-stocks-set-to-track-u-s-sell-off-after-fed-markets-wrapIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-fed-rate-cut-apple-stock-market-rally-lessons-twilio-qualcomm/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/01/stock-market-fed-cools-expectations-of-further-rate-cuts.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed/fed-cuts-interest-rates-signals-it-may-not-need-to-do-more-idUKKCN1UQ0DSU.K.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/shell-fed-disappointment-hit-ftse-100-lse-outshines-idUKKCN1UR3T9Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-stocks-down-after-fed-disappoints-shell-falls-idUSKCN1UR3T7Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mixed-after-fed-rate-cut-end-of-us-china-trade-talks-2019-07-31/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/31/us-bonds-treasury-yields-tick-lower-ahead-of-fed-rate-decision.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/01/forex-markets-federal-reserve-powell-comments-usd-eur-jpy-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/01/oil-markets-us-federal-reserve-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/01/gold-markets-federal-reserve-dollar-in-focus.htmlCuirrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
