This week, the spotlight was firmly on the Federal Reserve's decision. On Wednesday, the Fed delivered what investors had anticipated, slashing interest rates by an aggressive 50 basis points. However, this move still left the markets wanting more. Initially, stocks rallied on the news, but volatility quickly set in, leading to a downturn for all three major U.S. indices by the end of the day.
We have a lot to cover in the developments surrounding these key events.
*It is important to remember to assess your financial situation and risk tolerance, before engaging in copy trading. Past performance and forecast are not reliable indicators of future results.
Stocks close slightly lower, trade choppy after Fed rate cut
U.S. stocks ended the week with modest losses after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points, marking its first cut in over four years. The trading day was volatile, with the S&P 500 swinging between gains and losses before climbing 1% following the Fed's announcement. However, it eventually lost steam and closed lower.
The Dow ($US30) fell 103 points (0.25%) to 41,503, the S&P 500 ($SPX500) dropped 16 points (0.29%) to 5,618, and the Nasdaq ($NAS100) slipped 55 points (0.31%) to 17,573.
Trading involves significant risk of loss.
Alibaba accelerates AI push by releasing new open-source models
Chinese technology company Alibaba released on Thursday new open-source artificial intelligence models and text-to-video AI technology, intensifying its efforts to compete in the booming area of generative AI.
The open-source models, numbering more than 100, come from Alibaba's Qwen 2.5 family, its latest foundational large language model released in May.
Trading involves significant risk of loss.
Oil prices rise after US interest rate cut
Oil prices edged higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s significant rate cut, but ongoing concerns about global demand limited the gains. Brent crude futures for November rose 36 cents (0.5%) to $74.01 a barrel, while WTI crude for October increased 34 cents (0.3%) to $71.15 a barrel, recovering from earlier losses.
While the Fed's half-point rate cut generally boosts economic activity and energy demand, it also signaled potential weakness in the U.S. labor market, which could slow down economic growth.
Trading involves significant risk of loss.
GBP/USD recovers slightly after BoE rate decision
$GBPUSD pares some of its intraday losses, hovering just below 1.3200 following the Bank of England's rate decision.
The pair found support near 1.3150, halting its pullback from the 1.3300 level — the highest since March 2022 — reached just a day earlier. The pair recovered toward the 1.3200 mark but struggled to maintain momentum amid renewed U.S. dollar buying. As a result, it currently trades with modest losses.
Trading involves significant risk of loss.
This concludes our weekly recap. Have a great weekend and see you next week! 👋
