Futures linked to the Dow Jones industrial average rose 9 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were both roughly flat. Shares of Qualcomm, Roku and Fortinet fell after reporting disappointing quarterly results and forward guidance. Investors had been expecting the central bank to raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points and initially read the Fed’s statement as risky, sending stocks higher. Those gains were reversed after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said it was “premature” to talk about a pause in rate hikes and that the terminal rate would likely be higher than previously reported. Traders react as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, November 2, 2022. Brendan McDermid | Reuters “We still have a ways to go and the incoming data from our last meeting suggests that the final level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected,” he said. The Dow Jones industrial average ended Wednesday’s session 416 points lower, or 1.3 percent, ending a significant October rally. The S&P 500 fell 2% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.8%. Markets will likely continue to slow until it becomes clear that inflation has cooled and the Fed has stopped moving higher rates. Any evidence that the US economy is not slowing as the central bank tightens policy will likely weigh on stocks. The next major report is the October non-farm payrolls, due on Friday. “You have a good number of jobs, in other words a good unemployment rate that’s not growing, then the market has a lot of problems,” Guy Adami, director of advisory advocacy at Private Advisor Group, told CNBC’s ” Fast Money.”
