US pre-open: Futures lower following FOMC decision

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were marginally lower ahead of the bell on Friday after the Federal Reserve Bank opted to lower its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points. As of 1230 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.02%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.10% and 0.29% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 0.59 points lower on Thursday after delivering its biggest post-election rally in a century in the prior session.

The Fed's decision to lower interest rates, in line with expectations, was still drawing an amount of investor attention early on Friday, as were comments from chairman Jerome Powell, who said he was "feeling good" about the state of the US economy during his post-meeting presser but did warn that the US was on an unsustainable path as far as fiscal policy was concerned.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "Markets are still predicting one more 25 basis point rate cut in 2024, but the probabilities are swinging about a bit. As usual, the Fed will remain data-dependent when it comes to rate decisions, although Powell maintains that current monetary policy remains restrictive. No doubt he's thinking of all those real estate loans that will reset next year."

On the macro front, a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's November consumer sentiment index will be published at 1500 GMT.

In the corporate space, Airbnb shares were in the red during pre-market trading after Q3 earnings came in shy of consensus expectations, while Block shares were also trading lower after posting a Q3 revenue miss.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com