U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday after two days of advance on Wednesday. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher in premarket.
This followed the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold the interest rate steady at 4.25% to 4.5% on Wednesday.
“The tariff increases announced so far have been significantly larger than anticipated,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said.
He noted that if the tariffs are sustained, they could lead to higher inflation, weaker growth, and a rise in unemployment, directly undermining the Fed’s dual mandate.
“We don’t think we need to be in a hurry. We are going to be watching the data. It may move quickly or slowly. But we’re well-positioned to wait,” he said.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.31% and the two-year bond was at 3.82%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 79.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping the current interest rates unchanged in its June meeting.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.72% |
| S&P 500 | 0.94% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 1.38% |
| Russell 2000 | 1.31% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 1.14% to $567.54, while the QQQ advanced 1.51% to $490.61, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session:
Leading the gains among sectors in the S&P 500 on Wednesday were health care, consumer discretionary, and information technology stocks, as most sectors closed positively.
Bucking this trend were communication services and materials stocks, which finished the session lower.
In company news, Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) reported first-quarter revenue that fell short of expectations, while Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) announced positive fiscal second-quarter 2025 results on Wednesday.
On the economic front, U.S. mortgage application volumes saw an 11% increase from the prior week for the week ending May 2nd.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | 0.27% | 17,738.16 |
| S&P 500 | 0.43% | 5,631.28 |
| Dow Jones | 0.70% | 41,113.97 |
| Russell 2000 | 0.33% | 1,989.66 |
Insights From Analysts:
Sharing a 10-year S&P 500 chart on X, Jurrien Timmer, Director …