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Wall Street saw a cautious tone on Thursday as major tech-heavy indexes edged lower, weighed down by mixed earnings from the mega-caps and the lingering impact of hawkish remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell the day before. Following the Federal Reserve's widely anticipated 25-basis-point rate cut, Powell poured cold water on speculation of another move in December, stressing that an additional reduction is "far from a foregone conclusion." Traders swiftly pared bets for a year-end cut, pricing in a 65% chance versus nearly 100% just a day earlier. The Nasdaq 100 dipped 0.7%, set to end a five-day winning streak, dragged by a steep 10% drop in Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) after the company unveiled hefty new AI-related capital spending. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) fell nearly 3% despite topping analysts' expectations, while Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) surged 4%. Alphabet's rally capped its seventh consecutive month of gains, with a 63% advance over the past four months — its strongest stretch since the company's early trading months in 2004. Elsewhere, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE:CMG) plunged more than 15% — its sharpest one-day loss since 2012 — after trimming its sales outlook, citing a tougher macroeconomic backdrop. On the geopolitical front, progress in U.S.–China trade discussions offered a rare note of optimism. In the first in-person meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in six years, Washington agreed to reduce certain tariffs, while Beijing committed to ease export restrictions on rare-earth elements and tighten controls on fentanyl-related chemicals. In commodities, gold rebounded 1.8% to $4,000 per ounce after four consecutive declines, even as the dollar strengthened. The U.S. dollar index climbed to 99.5 — its highest since early August — with the greenback advancing nearly 1% against the Japanese yen. In crypto trading, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) slipped for a fourth straight session, down about 2% to $108,000. Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) fell 3.2%, and Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) lost 3.8%, both ahead of quarterly earnings due after Thursday's close. Thursday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs According to Benzinga Pro data: The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) eased 0.4% to $629.25. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.4% to $478.12. The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) slumped 0.8% to $630.80. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rose 0.1% to $247.17. The Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) outperformed, up 1%; the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) lagged, down 1.1%. Thursday’s Movers On Earnings Results Microsoft Corporation down 2.8% Alphabet Inc. up 4.1% Meta Platforms, Inc. down 10.2% Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) up 3.8% Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) up 0.2% Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) down 0.9% ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) up 3.6% KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) down 1.5% Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) up 0.4% Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) down 1.7% The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) up 0.5% Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) down 6.7% Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) up 0.7% Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) up 5.8% Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) down 0.2% Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) up 5.8% Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX) down 11.0% Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) up 0.3% The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI) down 13.4% Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) up 0.8% Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR) down 0.3% Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) down 7.8% L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX) up 2.4% Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) down 2.3% Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) up 1.9% Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSE:LNG) up 0.8% AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME) up 8.1% Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.down 15.8% Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) up 12.5% Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) down 3.9% Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) up 3.3% Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) up 12.9% eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) down 14.3% Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) up 2.1% WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC) down 2.3% The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) up 1.5% The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) down 3.2% Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) up 4.9% Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) down 4.3% EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME) down 16.6% Stocks slated to report earnings after the close include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK), Strategy Inc., Coinbase Global Inc., Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ:MNST), Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE:MSI), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG), Republic Services Inc. (NYSE:RSG), Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE:EW), Monolithic Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR), Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC), ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD), Atlassian Corp. (NASDAQ:TEAM), Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE:ED), Vici Properties Inc. (NYSE:VICI), Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR), Dexcom Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA), Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO), GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE:GDDY), Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE:WY), Erie Indemnity Co. (NASDAQ:ERIE), MasTec Inc. (NYSE:MTZ), Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ:Z), Reinsurance Group of America Inc. (NYSE:RGA), and Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI). Read now: Meta Stock Has ‘Meaningful Runway Ahead’: Aggressive AI Investing Opens Up ‘New Opportunities’ Image: Shutterstock
