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Coffee With Greta: Stocks Rally After Dovish Fed

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DJIA Futures: +125 (+0.3%)

SPX Futures: +26 (+0.5%)

NASDAQ Futures: +177 (+1.0%)

Good morning friends!

Futures are higher amid optimism about the future of Fed rate cuts.

Let’s get right to it!

Dovish Fed

The major indexes all closed at fresh record highs on Wednesday after the Fed signaled it’s still planning for three rate cuts this year. 

The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to keep the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.5%, as expected. 

But the updated Summary of Economic Projections showed the Central Bank still expects to cut rates by 25 basis points three times this year. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not detail when the bank sees those cuts coming but said he does expect the data to cooperate. 

He said, “We believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this type of cycle, and that if the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year.”

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool now shows over 68% of traders anticipating the first cut in June. 

The dot plot also showed three rate cuts in 2025, one less than previously expected, three cuts in 2026, and two more cuts in the future.

Weekly Jobless Claims Dip

Weekly jobless claims fell unexpectedly last week as layoffs remain low. 

The Labor Department reported 210,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits. 

That was down from 212,000 in the previous week and lower than 213,000 expected. 

Continuing claims rose by 4,000 to 1.81 million in the week ending March 9.

Reddit Prices IPO At $34 Per Share

Reddit is set to begin trading under the ticker symbol RDDT in today’s session. 

The company priced its IPO Wednesday at $34 per share and the offering brought in $519 million. 

The IPO values Reddit at nearly $6.5 billion, down from its last private market valuation of $10 billion in 2021. 

This is the first major social media company to go public since Pinterest (PINS) in 2019. 

Reddit sold 15.28 million shares in the offering and existing shareholders sold 6.72 million. 

Micron Soars After Earnings

Micron Technology (MU) shares are surging 17.4% ahead of the open after crushing fiscal Q2 expectations. 

Here’s how the chipmaker’s results compared to analysts’ estimates:

  • Adjusted EPS: $0.42 vs $0.25 per share loss expected
  • Revenue: $5.82 billion vs $5.35 billion expected

The company’s CEO said, “We believe Micron is one of the biggest beneficiaries in the semiconductor industry of the multi-year opportunity enabled by AI.”

Micron forecast fiscal Q3 revenue of $6.6 billion vs $6.02 billion expected. 

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