As the US equity markets prepared for Friday, they appeared to be trending lower as investors took stock of the latest interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve and deliberated over the implications of Donald Trump's presidential election victory on financial markets. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.2%, with the Nasdaq sliding roughly 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed a slight decline in premarket activities.
Asian stock exchanges exhibited mixed to lower trends, and European markets were generally trending downward by midday. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee enacted a reduction of its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, following a substantial 50-basis-point cut in September. In premarket activities, Upstart Holdings experienced a significant rise, surging about 22% after the lending platform released strong third-quarter results.
Conversely, Airbnb's shares fell approximately 5.5% as their third-quarter earnings did not meet market predictions. Despite reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results, Arista Networks saw a drop of 4.6%. Meanwhile, Monster Beverage shares declined by 6% after the company reported third-quarter results below Wall Street's expectations. Super Micro Computer saw an uptick of 3.2%, while Trump Media & Technology Group continued its downward trend, falling 4.3% ahead of the market's opening. Several companies such as NRG Energy, Baxter International, Paramount Global, Brookfield Renewable, and Flowers Foods are set to report their latest quarterly results before the market opens, while Hawaiian Electric Industries will release its financial results after market hours. Telus reported a premarket growth of 2.2% after announcing its third-quarter results. On the economic front, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment data for November will be released at 10:00 am ET.
Later in the day, the weekly Baker Hughes rig count for domestic oil and gas will be posted at 1:00 pm. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman is scheduled to speak at 11:00 am, followed by St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem at 2:30 pm. Before the opening bell, Bitcoin experienced a slight decline of about 0.7%, settling at $76,106.
Additionally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased by 1.2%, trading at $71.53 per barrel. Yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped by 3.3 basis points to 4.31%, while gold prices slipped 0.2% to $2,700 per ounce..