U.S. Stock Index Futures Steady After Fed Interest Rate Cuts

U.S. stock index futures steadied on Wednesday evening following a sharp decline on Wall Street. The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates as anticipated, but indicated a slower pace of easing in 2025.

Fed Cuts Rates for Third Time

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve officials lowered interest rates by 25 basis points, marking the third consecutive cut and bringing the borrowing rate to a range of 4.25%-4.50%. Chair Jerome Powell noted that further reductions will depend on progress in controlling persistent inflation, especially with the anticipated economic changes under the Donald Trump administration.

Policymakers now project only two more cuts in 2025, reducing their previous forecast for four cuts made in September.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) projects inflation to end this year at 2.4% and next year at 2.5%, both above the 2% target. However, they expect slightly improved economic growth and lower unemployment rates next year compared to earlier projections.

Wall Street Declines Amid Tech Sector Losses

The expectation of prolonged high interest rates led to sharp declines on Wall Street on Wednesday, particularly in the technology sector. Investors locked in profits after a recent rally in tech stocks. Notable losses included:
– NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA): down more than 1%
– Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA): down over 8%
– Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC): nearly down 6%
– Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO): down 7%

Aftermarket trading saw Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) shares plunge nearly 16% due to a disappointing revenue outlook.

Stock indexes fell significantly:
– S&P 500: down 3% to 5,872.16 points
– NASDAQ Composite: down 3.6% to 19,380.87 points
– Dow Jones Industrial Average: down 2.6% to 42,326.87 points, marking its 10th consecutive day of decline, the longest losing streak since 1974.