Wall Street stocks opened lower on Thursday after mixed results from big tech companies and comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that raised doubts about more rate cuts this year.
In the early hours of trading, the Dow Jones fell 196 points (0.41%) to 47,435.60, the S&P 500 dropped 35 points (0.51%) to 6,855.79, and the Nasdaq lost 174 points (0.73%) to 23,784.50. US tech companies showed mixed results in their Q3 2025 earnings.
Alphabet reported strong results, but companies like Microsoft and Meta saw cautious reactions from investors, even though their revenues grew. The mixed response shows both excitement about AI growth and worries about profits and future costs.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve announced a 25 bps interest rate cut, bringing the range to 3.75%–4.00%. In his opening statement at the post-meeting press conference, Chair Jerome Powell stated that another rate cut in December is not guaranteed.
“A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion, far from it,” Powell said. Later, responding to reporters’ questions, he added that there was “a growing chorus now of feeling like maybe we this is where we should at least wait a cycle” before making another move.
Powell also mentioned the layoff situation in the country during the briefing. He explained, “You see a significant number of companies either announcing that they are not going to be doing much hiring or actually doing layoffs, and much of the time they’re talking about AI and what it can do,” Powell said. “We’re watching that very carefully.”