It is all good for the stock market this morning — or at least it feels that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are up 34 points and are trading 0.8% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 206 points and are trading 1.4% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 91 points and are trading 0.3% above fair value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pacesetter for those moves is Meta Platforms (META)<\/strong>. It is up 9.6% following its earnings report, which clearly exceeded expectations both in terms of the results and the guidance. This move has put a bid in other mega-cap stocks, which has provided some added ballast for the equity futures market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It isn’t just about Meta Platforms, though. The stock market is also keying off pleasing results from a litany of companies, such as McDonald’s (MCD), Comcast (CMCSA), Lam Research (LRCX), AbbVie (ABBV), Mastercard (MA)<\/strong>, and Royal Caribbean (RCL)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, it is keying off the hopeful view that the Fed is at, or near, the peak of its tightening cycle after digesting the remarks made by Fed Chair Powell at his press conference following the decision by the FOMC to raise the target range for the fed funds rate by 25 basis points to 5.25-5.50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ECB followed suit this morning with a 25-basis points increase in its key policy rates, as expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Judging by the disposition of the equity futures market, investors are setting aside worries about a policy mistake of tightening too much, although this morning’s data provided another reminder that the lag effect of prior rate hikes is, well, still lagging to a large extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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