Before the Bell
Technology is setting the tone this morning. Alphabet is down about 11% in pre-market trading after its third-quarter results showed slower ad growth and heavier spending on AI infrastructure, with quarterly capital spending reaching $51.4 billion. That has revived the question of whether AI spending is paying off, pulling Nasdaq 100 futures down 1.1% and S&P 500 futures down 0.3%. At 8:30 a.m. Eastern, third-quarter GDP and September PCE inflation arrive together, the first major data since the Fed held rates on Wednesday.
On Wednesday the S&P 500 rose 0.28% to 7,743.98, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.27% to 26,549.85 and the Dow added 0.19% to 52,475.10 after the Fed held its target range at 3.75% to 4.00%, with two officials dissenting in favor of a hike. Vertiv was the S&P 500's best performer, up 16.5% after raising its full-year guidance, while Enphase fell 16% after its results and outlook disappointed. Overnight, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.1%, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.2% as Samsung slid more than 4% after a chip-profit miss; in Europe, the DAX and CAC 40 are each up close to 1%.