Stock futures rise as traders discount Fed's super-sized rate cut: Live Update

US stock futures rose on Wednesday night as traders digested the Federal Reserve's earlier decision to cut interest rates by half a percentage point.

Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures rose 100 points or 0.2%. Futures are linked to the S&P 500 And Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4% and 0.5% respectively.

The US central bank on Wednesday cut its overnight lending rate from 4.75% to 5.00% to 5.25% to 5.5%, which came as a surprise to some investors who had criticized the size of the initial cut. This is the first rate cut delivered by the Fed in four years.

After watching for most of the afternoon, stocks finally closed Wednesday's session lower. Both S&P 500 and 30-stock Dao The Fed initially hit new record highs after announcing its decision to cut interest rates.

Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at PGIM Fixed Income, attributed the market's downward move on Wednesday to Powell's emphasis that the initial 50 basis point rate cut did not set the priority for more drastic rate cuts to follow.

“The market itself was thinking, if you do 50, there's a high probability of another 50. But I think he really dashed that idea a little bit. It's not that he thinks it won't happen, it's that he's pre-committing. No. It's the right call to make it happen,” Porcelli said.

Darden RestaurantShipping giant fedex and home builders the laner will report their earnings on Thursday. Traders will also watch for August existing home sales and the latest weekly jobless claims.