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Informist, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: US indices end higher Fri after Fed official's rate cut views

 

MUMBAI--0756 IST--Equity indices in the US ended higher Friday as chances of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve rebounded after dovish remarks by New York Fed President John Williams John Williams. A higher-than-expected unemployment rate Thursday also boosted bets of a rate cut at the apex bank's meeting in December. Recent jitters around artificial intelligence-related stocks weighed on benchmark indices on a weekly basis.  

 

"I view monetary policy as being modestly restrictive, although somewhat less so than before our recent actions," Williams was quoted by CNBC. "Therefore, I still see room for a further adjustment in the near term to the target range for the federal funds rate to move the stance of policy closer to the range of neutral, thereby maintaining the balance between the achievement of our two goals." 

 

While Williams said the US Fed could still cut rates in the near term, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said they should be left on hold while the central bank assesses the effect of current rates on the economy. "Part of the reason for the move today is that Williams was seen as one of the hawkish leans, so the market could perceive it representing someone stepping over the line towards the dovish point of view," Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

 

Amid the rate cut optimism, the US unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in September, the highest level in four years, against 4.3% in August, according to data from the US Labour Department. This cemented the US Fed's efforts to tighten the labour market, one of its measures to keep inflation under control. Fed funds futures are currently pricing in a 69% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut, a sharp increase from the 44% likelihood a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

 

The three major US equity indices were sharply lower last week. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 2% on week. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.7% last week.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Friday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6602.99	0.98
NASDAQ Composite	22273.08	0.88
Dow Jones Industrial Average	46245.41	1.08

 

(Eshitva Prakash)

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 89.48

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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