Dow slips, Nasdaq and S&P 500 rebound amid growing doubts on Fed rate-cut path

UBS strategists said the recent stock market setback is likely temporary, amid a broader bull run.

Hawkish talk from Fed officials in recent days has raised the question of whether the central bank would hold rates unchanged, or go for a 25 basis point cut at the Federal Open Market Committee’s next policy meeting in December.

“Despite the cautious rhetoric from Fed officials this week, we believe any decision will ultimately be data dependent,” Ulrike Hoffmann Burchardi, CIO Americas and global head of equities, UBS Global Wealth Management, wrote on Friday.

The strategist noted that even if the official October jobs report does not include the unemployment rate reading, other available data from private entities, such as ADP Research and Challenger, Gray & Christmas, “should also allow the Fed to continue its rate-cutting cycle if inflation remains under control.”

“So, with the Fed likely to cut rates further and tech companies reporting strong earnings, we maintain our view that the equity bull market is intact,” wrote Hoffmann Burchardi.

The firm expects the S&P 500 (^GSPC) to rise to 7,300 by June 2026 .

Big Tech stocks saw their earlier losses shrink after dropping in premarket trading.

Nvidia (NVDA), which dropped around 3% before the open, was down fractionally. Tesla (TSLA) sank 1.7% after its worst day since July. The two, alongside Broadcom (AVGO), saw the largest losses of Big Tech names during Thursday’s sell-off.

Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) reversed direction to recover the prior trading session’s losses. The iPhone maker rose 0.15% after dropping modestly on Thursday. Microsoft climbed 0.35% after a 1.5% decline yesterday.

US stocks dropped at the open Friday, with tech leading losses as investors rotated out of riskier assets amid growing doubts over the Fed’s path to interest rate cuts following the longest-ever US government shutdown in history.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell roughly 0.9%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank over 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) tumbled around 1.6%.

Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA) dropped 4% and 2.8%, respectively, while Broadcom sank 2.9% after those stocks led a decline in Big Tech names during Thursday’s market selloff.

American Bitcoin (ABTC) stock fell 13% before the bell on Friday despite reporting a rise in profit. The company, which has Eric Trump as co-founder, chief strategy officer and Donald Trump Jr as a major stockholder, saw its profit more than double in the third quarter.

Reuters reports:

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Oracle (ORCL) stock fell more than 1% before the bell on Friday and has been among the worst affected by the recent sell-off compared to its Big Tech rivals. The company’s borrowing, which has been used to fund its AI initiatives, has worried investors.

The FT reports:

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Warner Bros (WBD) stock rose 3% before in premarket trading on Friday after news that Paramount (PSKY), Comcast (CMCSA), and Netflix (NFLX) were preparing bids for the entertainment group.

Whirlpool (WHR) stock rose 3% before the bell on Friday following news that Investor David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management had purchased 5.2 million shares of the appliance maker.

Applied Materials (AMAT) stock fell 5% in premarket trading on Friday after the chipmaker reported a slowdown in revenue. The company’s first quarter forecast was more upbeat.