US stocks were poised on Thursday for a bid on fresh record highs, after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the first time this year and signaled that more cuts are on the way in coming months.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose 0.7%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) moved roughly 0.9% higher. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) led the gains, up more than 1%.
Stocks are eyeing new highs after slipping from records in the wait for the Fed to confirm the widely anticipated shift to easing. If premarket gains hold, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) looks set to cross 6,700 at the open, after closing above 6,600 for the first time on Monday.
The moves come as Wall Street debates the future path of Fed policy. Signs of a growing slowdown in the labor market are credited with helping persuade policymakers to cut rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday.
The Fed’s “dot plot” indicated that two more interest cuts are likely before the end of 2025. However, Chair Jerome Powell said high inflation and a weak labor market leave “no risk-free path”, raising doubt further cuts will come smoothly.
Investors will get more insight into the jobs landscape with the release of weekly jobless claims figures on Thursday.
On the corporate front, FedEx (FDX) will report its quarterly results after the bell. Analysts expect the delivery giant’s profit to take a hit from President Trump’s decision to end the “de minimus” tariff exemption for low-value direct-to-consumer packages from China and Hong Kong. These packages account for about three-quarters of duty-free sub-$800 shipments to US each year, they said.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Trump is on a state visit to the UK, where he dined with tech and finance executives at Windsor Castle. Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are set to meet on Thursday amid efforts to nail down deals on tech, energy, and digital assets. In particular focus for the US and the UK is boosting ties in AI, with Microsoft (MSFT) and Nvidia (NVDA) pledging to make investments.
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