falcon play Global stocks mostly rise as Fed, Bank of England cut rates

Comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appear on a bank of screens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

New York, United States — Global stocks mostly rose Thursday, with US indices hitting fresh records as a Federal Reserve interest rate cut extended a post-election rally.

While the Dow finished flat, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq jumped to new all-time highs as the Fed shrugged off concerns about the impact of Donald Trump’s election victory and moved ahead with a quarter point interest rate cut.

Article continues after this advertisement

The central bank voted unanimously to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points to between 4.50 and 4.75 percent.

FEATURED STORIES BUSINESS Tesla in the Philippines: Cheaper model priced at P2.1M BUSINESS Global food prices reach 18-month high — FAO BUSINESS PSEi surrenders 7,000 on Trump win

READ: US Fed makes quarter point cut as Powell insists he would not quit

Markets were cheered by Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s tone, which kept the door open to further interest rate cuts.

Article continues after this advertisement

“Of course, there’s going to be a debate about the pace of rate cuts, but policy makers and chair Powell mentioned that they continue to think that policy is restrictive,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.

Article continues after this advertisement

All three major indices had hit all-time highs on Wednesday as markets greeted Trump’s election win with the hope that tax cuts and the scaling back of regulation would offset the hit from higher tariffs.

Article continues after this advertisement

Analysts have cautioned that aggressive growth-oriented policies could reignite inflation.

But Powell noted there was still uncertainty about what Trump’s actual economic agenda would be.

Article continues after this advertisement

“We don’t guess, we don’t speculate, and we don’t assume,” he said at a news conference.

READ: Bank of England cuts UK interest rates again

Large tech companies were big winners, with Apple, Google parent Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta all up more than two percent.

But banking shares pulled back after a torrid session on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped 1.4 percent, while JPMorgan Chase fell 4.3 percent.

Earlier, the Bank of England announced a widely expected 25-basis-point cut, its second reduction since August, as inflation in Britain fell below its target rate.

Sweden’s central bank also dropped borrowing costs by 50 basis points, its biggest reduction in a decade, while Norway made no change.

READ: Sweden central bank makes biggest rate cut since 2014

Frankfurt stocks rose by 1.7 percent as the conservative opposition heaped pressure on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s crisis-hit government to allow for speedy elections by calling a confidence vote next week rather than in 2025.

Christian Democrats chief Friedrich Merz made the demand after Scholz’s three-party coalition imploded Wednesday over the 2025 budget and fiscal policy.

In Asia on Thursday, Chinese stocks rallied as investors brushed off concerns that China in particular would be the target of Trump’s tariffs.

Key figures around 2130 GMT

New York – Dow: FLAT at 43,729.34 (close)

New York – S&P 500: UP 0.7 percent at 5,973.10 (close)

New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.5 percent at 19,269.46 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,140.74 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 7,425.60 (close)

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.7 percent at 19,362.52 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 39,381.41 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.0 percent at 20,953.34 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.6 percent at 3,470.66 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0801 from $1.0729 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2985 from $1.2879

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.92 yen from 154.63 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.18 pence from 83.31 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $72.36 per barrel

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

SIGN ME UP

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.0 percent at $75.63 per barrelfalcon play

READ NEXT US Fed makes quarter point cut as Powell insists he would not ... PH GDP growth slowed sharply to 5.2% in Q3 EDITORS' PICK Jayson Castro wins third PBA Finals MVP for TNT at 38 PH affirms maritime zones, angering China Power rate hike on the horizon Marcos: Heed ‘Yolanda’s’ ‘payload of lessons’  Marcos order banning Pogos finally out: All for nat’l security New Philippine map including West Philippine Sea out soon – Namria MOST READ PH affirms maritime zones, angering China LPA is now Tropical Depression Nika inside PAR Sue Ramirez, Dominic Roque spotted together in Siargao PH right not to let US join in West Philippine Sea resupply mission – NSC Follow @FMangosingINQ on Twitter --> View comments

• Stocks
• global
• Rise
• falcon play
• Mostly