US Stocks Slip on Fed Policy Division; Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft Earnings Mixed

Market Reaction to Fed Policy

• 📉 Stocks slipped on Wall Street due to evidence of division within the Federal Reserve regarding future monetary policy.
• 📊 The S&P 500 ended the day nearly flat, the NASDAQ gained 131 points, and the Dow lost 74 points.
• 📈 The ten-year Treasury yield stood at 4.06%, and the two-year yield was at 3.6%.

Mixed Corporate Earnings Reports

• 💰 Mattel's third-quarter revenue beat analyst expectations at $51.2 billion, but shares fell about 5%.
• 📈 Alphabet reported earnings per share that beat estimates, with shares climbing about 3% in post-market trading.
• 📉 Microsoft also beat average analyst revenue estimates, yet its shares were down about 4% in after-hours trading.
• 🤝 MasterCard is reportedly in late-stage talks to acquire crypto infrastructure startup Zero Hash for $1.5 billion to $2 billion.

Federal Reserve Rate Decision and Outlook

• 🏦 The Federal Reserve decided to cut rates by a quarter percentage point and will cease shrinking its asset portfolio on December 1st.
• ⚠️ Fed Chair Jay Powell stated that a rate cut in December is not a done deal, citing strongly differing views within the committee and the potential impact of a government shutdown.
• 🗣️ Two dissenting votes were noted: Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid voted for no change, and Stephen Miran called for a 50 basis point cut.

Geopolitical and Economic Developments

• 🇺🇸 President Trump is reportedly open to providing China with access to Nvidia's Blackwell AI processor ahead of his meeting with Xi Jinping.
• 🚀 Nvidia has seen a 50% gain this year, contributing significantly to the S&P 500's advance.
• ⚠️ Pfizer experienced a record stock plunge after slashing its full-year earnings outlook and reporting third-quarter results that confounded analysts.
• 🚫 A government shutdown, now in its 29th day, has led to a ground stop at Newark Airport due to staffing issues, impacting air traffic controllers nationwide.