Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures rose Thursday, boosted by strong earnings from Meta Platforms as well as hopes the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate increase will be its last.
By 06:35 ET (10:35 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 35 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded 30 points, or 0.6%, higher and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 195 points, or 1.3%.
The benchmark Wall Street indices wobbled on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve lived up to expectations by hiking interest rates by another quarter of a percentage point, bringing rates to the highest level in more than 22 years.
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained just over 80 points, or 0.2%, for its thirteenth straight winning session, its longest such streak since 1987. On the flip side, the broad-based S&P 500 closed just lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%.
Strong ad revenue growth propels Meta higher
The tone is more positive Thursday though, helped by strong earnings from Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), announced after the close Wednesday.
The Facebook parent reported a hefty 12% jump in advertising revenue in the second quarter, suggesting consumers, and advertisers eager to reach them, are spending despite broad economic concerns.
Meta stock jumped more than 8% premarket, on course to add about $60 billion to its market value.
There are more earnings to study Thursday, including from the likes of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Ford (NYSE:F) and T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS), while Chipotle (NYSE:CMG) stock fell over 8% after sales figures, released late Wednesday, disappointed at the fast food chain.
Fed’s tightening cycle near its end?
Investors will also be further digesting the outcome of the latest policy meeting from the Federal Reserve, which resulted in the U.S. central bank raising interest rates by 25 basis points as expected.
There is a growing belief, helping sentiment, that this could be the last of its tightening cycle, even after Fed Chair Jerome Powell kept open the possibility of a further hike later in the year.
"We continue to expect that today's hike will be the last of the cycle. Powell said that the FOMC will be particularly focused on the inflation data, and we expect the next few CPI reports to be soft," analysts at Goldman Sachs said, in a note.
Economic data slated for release this session include initial jobless claims, June durable goods orders, a preliminary second-quarter GDP reading and pending home sales.
Crude rises on tight supply expectations
Oil prices rose Thursday, rebounding from the previous session’s losses as traders focused on expectations of tighter supplies from major oil producers, even after the Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy once more.
Saudi Arabia and Russia both recently announced plans to cut production further in August, in an attempt to boost prices by tightening global supply.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after data showed U.S. crude inventories fell less than expected and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates again.
By 06:35 ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.8% higher at $79.44 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.6% to $83.06.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,976.20/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.5% higher at 1.1141.
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