Stock Market Today: Dow Jones Futures Slip, Nasdaq Gains Following Fed Rate Cuts, Big Tech

October 30, 2025

U.S. stock futures swung between gains and losses on Thursday following Wednesday’s mixed moves. Futures of major benchmark indices were mixed.

The meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping yielded significant agreements, including reduced U.S. fentanyl tariffs in exchange for China restarting “tremendous amounts” of U.S. soybean imports, a settled deal on rare earths, and strong indications that a broader trade deal is “pretty soon.”

Despite the positive meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech from Wednesday weighed on stocks as he cautioned that another cut is “not a foregone conclusion—far from it,” pushing back against expectations that had built up across financial markets in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.07% and the two-year bond was at 3.59%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 70.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates during its December meeting. –

Futures	Change (+/-)
Dow Jones	-0.19%
S&P 500	0.03%
Nasdaq 100	0.06%
Russell 2000	0.36%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were mixed in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 0.048% at $687.06, while the QQQ advanced 0.033% to $635.98, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) soared 7.57% in premarket on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected financial results for the third quarter, with a revenue of $102.35 billion and earnings of $2.87 per share, both beating estimates.

GOOG maintained a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, with a robust quality ranking. Additional performance details are available here.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) tumbled 7.39% despite upbeat earnings. However, its diluted earnings per share of $1.05, which includes a one-time, non-cash income tax charge of $15.93 billion, made the results not directly comparable to Wall Street estimates of $6.68 per share.

META maintains a stronger price trend over the long term but a weaker trend in the short and medium terms, with a poor value ranking. Additional information is available here.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) declined 2.78% as it estimates second-quarter sales of $79.50 billion to $80.60 billion, versus market estimates of $79.95 billion.

MSFT maintained a stronger price trend over short, medium, and long terms, with a strong growth ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was 0.50% lower ahead of its scheduled earnings to be released after the closing bell. Analysts expect earnings of $1.57 per share on revenue of $177.74 billion.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AMZN maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value ranking. Additional performance details are available here.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were 0.72% higher as analysts expect it to report earnings at $1.77 per share on revenue of $102.17 billion after the closing bell.

AAPL maintained a stronger price trend over short, medium, and long terms, with a poor growth ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.

The S&P 500 sectors largely declined on Wednesday, as real estate, consumer staples, and materials stocks recorded the biggest losses.

Index	Performance (+/-)	Value
Nasdaq Composite	0.55%	23,958.47
S&P 500	-0.0044%	6,890.59
Dow Jones	-0.16%	47,632.00
Russell 2000	-0.87%	2,484.81

Market strategist Ed Yardeni is striking a cautious tone on the economy and stocks, warning the Federal Reserve against fueling market speculation.

Following the Fed’s recent rate cut, Yardeni argues against the move, stating that easier policy “is increasing financial instability” and urging the central bank not to “feed the animal spirits in the stock market.”

He views the economy as mixed, pointing to a weak labor market where “many companies have been announcing headcount reductions.” Yardeni notes the bond market agrees, saying it “isn’t buying the Fed’s cover story” as yields rose post-cut.

Separately, LPL’s Chief Equity Strategist Jeff Buchbinder addresses market psychology, noting investors often fear a “psychological October Effect” based on historic crashes.

However, he highlights that this year, the S&P 500 is “bucking the psychological October Effect” with strong gains.

Despite this positive momentum, Buchbinder’s team “remains neutral equities,” favoring large-cap growth while balancing domestic AI potential against foreign upside from a weaker dollar.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Thursday;

The latest week’s initial jobless claims data and third-quarter GDP data will be delayed due to the shutdown, and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will speak at 9:55 a.m. ET.

Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.63% to hover around $60.10 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 1.12% to hover around $3,974.64 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,381.6 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.06% lower at the 99.1620 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 2.01% lower at $110,746.25 per coin.

Asian markets closed lower on Thursday, except South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices. Australia’s ASX 200, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, India’s NIFTY 50, and China’s CSI 300 indices fell. European markets were mostly lower in early trade.

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