Traders work after a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, in New York, USA.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures edged higher early Friday as major averages rose following the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike in three years on Wednesday.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures It rose by 55 points (0.1%). S&P500 futures 0.2% increase; Nasdaq 100 futures It rose by 0.4%.
US markets are ending a strong session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 316 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.7%.
Stocks rebounded and major market averages fell sharply on Wednesday, a day after the Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, signaling at least one more rate hike this year.
But Thursday’s gains — particularly in tech stocks — suggest that many investors are ignoring the outlook for long-term interest rates and the inflation environment and are instead returning to talk about artificial intelligence, which should continue to boost corporate earnings.
“At some point, every cycle ends,” Brian Levitt, Invesco’s chief global market strategist, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “I don’t think this problem will necessarily end anytime soon with a rise in the federal funds rate or a rise in oil prices. It will end when something goes wrong with AI trading, when the hyperscalers pull out of the investment again, or when the market decides that the amount invested is excessive compared to the expected return on invested capital. But that is not the environment we are in right now.”
The week ends on Friday with additional comments from Fed officials. Federal Reserve Bank President Michelle Bowman, a standing voting member of the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee, and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmidt, a nonvoting member, are scheduled to speak. Investors will be looking for further clarity on policymakers’ thinking behind Wednesday’s unanimous vote to raise interest rates.
Major stock averages have been moving at mixed weekly paces. As of Thursday’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.5% this week, marking its third consecutive week of decline. The S&P 500 index has also fallen 0.3% since the beginning of the week. Only the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was scheduled to participate in Friday’s trading, rising 0.3% for the week.
Mark Hefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a monthly investment note sent to clients Thursday that his team expects the stock rally to continue over the next six to 12 months.
“Of course, higher rates will not lead to more oil or chip production, and rising government debt will complicate the outlook,” he said. “However, over the years we have learned that investors should not automatically assume that geopolitical shocks will perpetuate market weakness or that debt issues will have a negative impact on all assets. We believe the fundamental support for the rally remains intact, with revenue growth remaining strong and falling inference costs stimulating AI adoption.”
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average ended 1.38% higher, while South Korea’s Nikkei Stock Average ended 1.38% higher. Kospi It rose by 2.66%. Mainland China’s CSI300 ended 1.06% higher. australian benchmark S&P/ASX 200 It was flat.
European stocks are seen as having fallen broadly for the last time. Stocks 600 The index fell 0.4% as regional stocks retreated from two days of winning streak.
