Dow Jones futures fell modestly Thursday morning, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. China's PDD Holdings and Zeekr reported early Thursday.
The stock market rallied after the Federal Reserve signaled two rate cuts this year while Fed chief Jerome Powell told investors what they wanted to hear despite "heightened uncertainty."
Boeing stock jumped after the CFO gave a bullish outlook. Boeing stock also is still struggling, but suppliers GE Aerospace, RTX and Howmet Aerospace made bullish moves.
PDD Holdings, which runs China e-commerce giant Pinduoduo and international site Temu, fell solidly from near a buy point early Thursday on weak Q4 revenue. Zeekr, owned by China auto giant Geely, declined modestly from near an entry on its latest quarterly loss.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures fell 0.3% vs. fair value, in what may be a day two Fed reaction. S&P 500 futures declined 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.5%. Futures reversed from modest gains Wednesday evening.
The 10-year Treasury yield retreated to 4.2%.
Investors will get the March Philly Fed manufacturing index and the latest weekly jobless claims data at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Fed Meeting
As expected, the Federal Reserve left its key target rate at 4.25%-4.5%. The Fed still sees two rate cuts in 2025 based on policymakers' individual "dot plot" projections.
The latest economic projections see slightly higher inflation and unemployment at year-end vs. December 2024 projections.
Fed chief Jerome Powell noted some softening in consumer spending as well as "heightened uncertainty about the economic outlook," largely on Trump tariffs. But, despite a whiff of stagflation, Powell largely said what investors wanted to hear: The economy is in solid shape and any tariffs inflation should be short-lived, while the Fed is still looking to cut rates.
Markets now slightly favors 75 basis points in Fed rate cuts this year vs. 50 basis points.
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Stock Market
The stock market rose strongly on the Federal Reserve meeting and Fed chief Jerome Powell's comments but the major indexes did come off their best levels in the final minutes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% in Wednesday's stock market trading, but hit resistance at its 200-day moving average. The S&P 500 index climbed 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite popped 1.4%. The small-cap Russell 2000 leaped 1.6%.
The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF advanced 0.7%, hitting 200-day resistance like the Dow industrials.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq percentage gains were sufficient for a follow-through day. However, volume appeared to be just below Tuesday's level. So the rally attempt hasn't been confirmed.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 0.4% to $67.16 a barrel.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell two basis points to 4.26%, reversing lower after the Fed announcement. The two-year yield, more exposed to the Fed rate outlook sank six basis points to 3.98%.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF popped 2.1%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF advanced 1.6%. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF gained 0.9%. Nvidia stock is the No. 1 holding in SMH.
ARK Innovation ETF jumped 3.75% and ARK Genomics ETF steppe up 2%. Tesla stock, is the largest component across ARK Invest's ETFs.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF rose 0.6%. The Energy Select SPDR ETF rallied 1.6% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ended just above break-even.
The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund rose 1.3%. The Financial Select SPDR ETF ran up 1.1%.
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Tesla Stock
Tesla stock jumped 4.7% to 235.86 on Wednesday, but is still below all its moving averages.
Investors should generally avoid stocks below the 200-day or even their 50-day lines.
Late Tuesday, California granted a permit letting Tesla drive its own employees in its EVs, with human drivers. That could a step toward having a commercial ride-hailing business. Technically, that's a permit Tesla would need for robotaxis, but has nothing to do with the EV giant's self-driving systems.
Tesla also got an upgrade from Cantor Fitzgerald.
The stock is down 41.6% so far in 2025, making Tesla the S&P 500's worst performer this year.
Early Thursday, shares fell slightly as Tesla recalled some 46,000 Cybertrucks for an exterior panel that can fall off. That recall also shows how few Cybertrucks have been sold.
Nvidia Stock
Nvidia stock rose 1.8% to 117.62. On Tuesday, shares fell 3.4% as investors weren't wowed, at least initially, with Jensen Huang's keynote address and Nvidia's upcoming chips.
NVDA stock is still below its 200-day and 50-day line, with the latter about to the cross the former.
Boeing Stock
CFO Brian West gave an upbeat update and outlook Wednesday, saying Boeing deliveries are "broadly tracking" to hit Q1 expectations.
Boeing stock leaped 6.8% to 172.62, reclaiming the 200-day line and just topping the 50-day. But BA stock is in a long downtrend.
But some Boeing suppliers are in better shape, and made bullish moves Wednesday. GE stock rose 2.4%, moving out of a buy zone but the jet engine and parts giant broke the downtrend of an emerging new consolidation. RTX stock climbed 2%, just out of a buy zone and hitting a new high. RTX is parent of Pratt & Whitney, which also supplies jet engines to Boeing. Howmet stock gained 2.9%, still actionable from the 50-day line as it works on a potential flat base just above another flat consolidation.
HWM stock is on the IBD Big Cap 20.
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What To Do Now
Wednesday may not have been a follow-through day, but investors should be sitting up. The market rally attempt is showing more strength. Keep in mind that the market often has a day two Fed reaction that reverses the day one move.
Also, the volatile sell-off and news-driven market mean any confirmed rally ahead would have a high risk of failure. The April 2 deadline for massive Trump tariffs is just two weeks away.
Update your watchlists. Look for setups, but also stocks with strong relative strength that aren't in position.
Many traditional growth leaders, including Tesla and Nvidia, are still heavily damaged. On the flip side, will leading sectors in recent weeks start to lag in a risk-on market? With leadership potentially unclear, investors could choose to take part in a new confirmed rally via a broad market ETF.
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