Shutterstock
NASDAQ and S&P futures rise while Dow sags post-Fed rate hike of 0.25%, Meta soars 20%, Bitcoin spikes above $24K, 3 Major companies announce job cuts, Shell posts highest-ever annual profit, and more financial news.
Following the federal reserve’s latest interest rate hike, stocks were mixed on Thursday. S&P futures were up 23.25 points or +0.56%, and NASDAQ futures soared 197 points or +1.59%, while Dow Jones industrial average futures sagged, falling ninety-seven points or -0.28%, Yahoo Finance reported.
The benchmark 10-Year Treasury note was down -0.033 to yield 3.367% as of 8:26 AM EST, while the 2-Year Treasury was down -0.051 to yield 4.059%.
In oil futures, WTI crude was down -0.46% at $76.06 a barrel, while Brent crude was down -0.63% at $82.32 per barrel, as of 8:30 a.m. ET.
The Federal Reserve hiked its key interest rate to 0.25% on Wednesday as many had expected. Although it was the smallest rate hike since the central bank began its aggressive campaign last March, the Fed said in a statement that more rate increases are most likely coming and aren’t likely to back off of its bid to slow inflation anytime soon, NBC reported.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he and other officials believed “a couple” more hikes should achieve a high enough interest rate at which the Fed would feel comfortable putting a pause on increases.
Shares of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, exploded 20% in premarket trading on Thursday as its fourth-quarter revenue of $32.17 billion beat expectations of $31.65 billion expected, and its advertising revenue of $31.25 billion actual also beat the $30.86 billion expected, Yahoo Finance reported. Facebook’s daily active users also increased to 2 billion actual versus the 1.98 billion expected.
Bitcoin, the world’s leading crypto, spiked 4 percent on Wednesday, rising above $24,000 as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated inflation had begun to slow. As of Thursday morning, Bitcoin dipped, but was still riding high at $23,772, Cointelegraph reported.
Three US corporations – FedEx, Rivian Automotive, and DraftKings – have joined the growing list of major companies announcing job cuts. FedEx announced it will reduce its workforce by 10 percent, while electric truck and SUV maker Rivian said that it is cutting 6% of its workforce, and online sports betting company DraftKings said it will cut about 140 jobs, Yahoo reported.
British oil giant Shell posted its highest-ever annual profit on Thursday reporting earnings of 39.9 billion for 2022, CNBC reported. It’s more than double Shell’s 2021 profit of $19.29 billion, and well above the company’s previous all-time record was set at $28.4 billion in 2008.
The announcement follows another by Exxon, who had record-breaking earnings for a Western oil company, reporting on Tuesday $55.7 billion in earnings for 2022, Oil Price reported.
“It’s outrageous that Exxon has posted a new record for Western oil company profits after the American people were forced to pay such high prices at the pump amidst Putin’s invasion,” a spokesperson for the White House said in a written statement, The Hill reported.
