Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.4%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.9%), and DJIA (+0.1%) remain little changed from their opening advance, with Amazon (AMZN 246.52, +23.66, +10.62%) and the consumer discretionary sector (+4.5%) continuing to provide strong leadership against softness in the broader market. 

While the back half of the week has seen investors focused on mega-cap earnings, expectations for another rate cut in December have steadily lessened following Fed Chair Powell's commentary on Wednesday. 

This morning, Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid (voting FOMC member) issued his dissent statement, citing strong market conditions and above-target inflation as reasons he voted to keep the fed funds rate unchanged. 

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, who is not a voting FOMC member but will be in 2026, echoed similar sentiments towards the October decision and added, "I find it difficult to cut rates again in December unless there is clear evidence that inflation will fall faster than expected or that the labor market will cool more rapidly."

The CME FedWatch tool now assigns a 63.0% probability of at least a 25-basis point rate cut in December, down from 72.8% yesterday and 95.8% one week ago.