US pre-open: Futures higher following Trump's White House victory

Wall Street futures were in the green ahead of the bell yet again on Thursday as market participants seemingly continued to cheer former president Donald Trump's re-election victory.

As of 1300 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.15%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.20% and 0.31% firmer, respectively.

The Dow closed a whopping 1,508.05 points higher on Wednesday, the blue-chip's biggest post-election rally in more than a century.

Besides the Republican Party's White House victory, Thursday's primary focus will likely be on the Federal Reserve Bank's interest rate decision at 1900 GMT, with the central bank widely expected to lower its benchmark overnight rate by 25 basis points to 4.75%. Comments from chairman Jerome Powell will also draw a significant amount of investor attention.

Trade Nation's David Morrison said: "There was an extraordinary reaction to news of Trump's win yesterday, partly on relief that the result was clear-cut and obvious just a few hours after polling closed. But also on the expectation that Trump will be good for US corporations. He has promised to cut taxes and tear up regulations in moves which should be positive for the business world. Yet Trump's promised tariffs on imports are likely to lead to winners and losers.

"The Fed will announce its rate decision today, and the expectation is that it will cut by 25 basis points. But there's less clarity over what will happen next month, as the market sees a reduced likelihood of the Fed cutting again. Bear in mind that the US central bank will be under great pressure to cut rates with an 'activist' Trump presidency. But the Fed has its own reasons for wanting to cut further, given that there's around $1.5trn of commercial real estate loans which have to reset next year, at considerably higher rates."

On the macro front, weekly jobless claims data and a preliminary reading of Q3 non-farm productivity figures will be out at 1330 GMT, while September wholesale inventories numbers will be out at 1500 GMT.

In the corporate space, Warner Brothers Discovery fell short of revenue estimates as a result of weakness in its studio unit, while Moderna posted a surprise profit on the back of solid Covid vaccine sales and the benefits of recent cost-cutting efforts, and doughnut maker Krispy Kreme dropped on the back of an earnings miss.

Still to come, Block, Pinterest, and Rivian will all report earnings after the close of trading.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com