Wall Street pushed higher early today, the Associated Press reports, as companies continued to report solid earnings and the Federal Reserve gave strong hints that a cut to interest rates could come as soon as next month. Futures for the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% higher before the bell, while futures for the Dow industrials were unchanged. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 0.6%.
On Wednesday, Treasury yields eased in the bond market after the Federal Reserve gave the clearest indication yet that it could begin lowering interest rates in September.
More than two-thirds of companies have now reported quarterly results, and 78% have beaten Wall Street’s targets, according to the data firm FactSet.
Before markets opened this morning, burger chain Shake Shack reported profits that met Wall Street expectations as it rang up more than $300 million in sales for the first time ever. Shares rose 9.6%.
Shares in Facebook parent company Meta soared 8.3% in off-hours trading after the social media platform reported stronger-than-expected revenue from its advertising business. The company said it‘s planning big investments in artificial intelligence next year.
Toyota tumbled 6.5% even after the Japanese automaker reported that its April–June profit rose 1.7% to a record $8.9 billion for the period.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 45 cents this morning to $78.36 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 51 cents to $81.35 per barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 150.51 Japanese yen from 149.98 yen.
