Stock futures changed little after the mid-term results; Meta shares jump after layoffs

Stock futures mostly remained unchanged – after recent market gains – as a result of midterm elections He did not provide clear answers about who would control Congress.

Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 64 points, or about 0.19%. S&P 500 futures were little changed, and Nasdaq 100 futures were barely positive around 6:30 AM ET.

Stocks are oscillating over three consecutive days of gains. The Dow rose 333 points on Tuesday for the third consecutive session of more than 1% gain. The stock rebound may be due in part to the election, as Wall Street had been expecting Republicans to gain ground and create a stalemate in Washington, DC.

But control of Congress was not clear, with the possibility that Republicans would take the House but without the “red pay” many political analysts had predicted.

In one of the major races that could determine congressional control, Democrat John Fetterman defeated Republican Mehmet Oz. For a pivotal Pennsylvania Senate seataccording to an NBC News drop.

Oz had the support of former President Donald Trump, who endorses his two candidates Experienced intermittent levels of success across the country. Besides defeating Oz, Trump-backed Republican candidate Theodore Dixon lost his bid to dislodge incumbent Democrat Gretchen Whitmer in the Michigan governor’s race. The Pennsylvania race also saw the Republican Party, Doug Mastriano, lose easily to Democrat Josh Shapiro.

Republicans were largely expected to take control of the House of Representatives, but important races are still up in the air and NBC News hasn’t given definitive predictions on how the party’s battle will be shaken.

Mike Wilson, chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, said on CNBC:closing bell“That if it does end up splitting the government, it could help ease concerns about inflation and higher interest rates going forward.

“It looks like the House will go the Republican way,” Wilson said. “This means deadlock. Most likely, less financial spending will be achieved.”

While the election caught the market’s attention, investors may want to move forward now that the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates to bring down inflation, which could push the economy into recession.

The political landscape “will dazzle the Washington chatterbox, but for markets the focus will shift to whether a recession looms, whether the Fed will end its tightening this winter, and whether armistice and negotiations are possible in the Ukraine war,” Greg Valier writes. , chief US policy strategist at AGF Investments.

The recent rally in the market occurred at the precipice of a strong seasonal period. Historically, stocks tend to rise after the midterm elections and the clarity of policy they bring, and the last two months of the year are a bullish period for investors.

Parent share on Facebook meta pads Primary market prices rose 3% after the social media giant announced that it would lay off more than 11,000 workers. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he was too optimistic about growth and now needed to streamline the company.

One of the stocks that weighed on futures was Disney, which fell more than 6% in extended trading after the entertainment giant missed estimates in its top and bottom line. fiscal fourth quarter.