US equity markets were pointing higher before the opening bell Thursday, poised to build on the record highs hit a day earlier as investors processed Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election and turned their attention to the Federal Reserve's rate decision. The Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq rose about 0.2% each in premarket activity.
The majority of Asian exchanges were tracking in the green, while European bourses were heading north midday on the continent. The Fed's monetary policy-setting committee is scheduled to announce a policy decision at 2 pm ET at the conclusion of its two-day meeting. Markets are widely expecting the central bank to lower interest rates by 25 basis points, the CME FedWatch tool showed. Shares of Qualcomm ($QCOM) rose 8% in premarket activity as the company's fiscal fourth-quarter results grew more than expected.
ARM ($ARM) fell 6.6% despite reporting better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings. Trump Media & Technology Group ($DJT) plunged 17% after closing the previous session up about 5.9% while Lyft ($LYFT) rose 22% on the back of strong fourth-quarter gross bookings guidance. MercadoLibre ($MELI) fell 8.9% following its latest quarterly results. Duke Energy ($DUK), Air Products and Chemicals ($APD), Becton Dickinson ($BDX), Transdigm Group ($TDG), Kenvue ($KVUE), Hershey ($HSY), Barrick Gold ($GOLD.US), Moderna ($MRNA), Warner Bros.
Discovery ($WBD) and Vistra ($VST) report their latest quarterly results before the opening bell, among others. Arista Networks ($ANET), Airbnb ($ABNB), Monster Beverage ($MNST), Block ($SQ), Pinterest ($PINS), News Corporation ($NWSA) and DraftKings ($DKNG) will post their financial statements after markets close. On the economic calendar, the weekly jobless claims bulletin and initial productivity data for the third quarter are out at 8:30 am, while the preliminary wholesale inventories report for September is scheduled to be released at 10:00 am.
The weekly EIA natural gas report is out at 10:30 am while consumer credit data for September will be released at 3 pm. Before the opening bell, bitcoin fell about 1.5% to $74,820. West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased 1.2% to $70.84 a barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries rose to 4.45% and gold slipped 0.2% to $2,671 an ounce. Price: 185.20, Change: +12.21, Percent Change: +7.06 $QCOM $ARM $DJT $LYFT $MELI $DUK $APD $BDX $TDG $KVUE $HSY $GOLD.US $MRNA $WBD $VST $ANET $ABNB $MNST $SQ $PINS $NWSA $DKNG.