By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S futures traded steady in early APAC trade on Thursday, as major benchmark averages eclipsed new records for the fourth consecutive session during regular trade after the Federal Reserve made its long-anticipated announcement to slow its monthly bond purchases, while market participants digested an ongoing slew of Q3 corporate earnings results.
During Wednesday’s regular session, the Dow added 104.95 points or 0.29% to 36157.59, the S&P 500 traded up 29.92 points or 0.65% to 4660.57 and the Nasdaq Composite added 161.98 points or 1.04% to 15,811.58 and closed at a record. This is the fourth session in a row that all three major averages closed at new highs.
Dow futures were flat, S&P 500 Futures added 0.06% and Nasdaq 100 Futures were up 0.16%.
Among stocks, LYFT Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) jumped 8.19% during regular trade after strong third-quarter results and CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) rose 5.69% on better-than-expected earnings while Zillow Group Inc (NASDAQ:ZG) plummeted 24.92% after announcing it will close its home buying and flipping business. Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) tumbled 14.06% after reporting earlier this week, while flagging delays to the launch of two games. Meantime, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) continued its recent surge, gaining 3.57% and closing at fresh record highs.
In policy news, the Fed said it will begin tapering bond purchases “later this month” and will reduce buying by $15 billion a month, citing “substantial further progress” towards its employment and inflation targets. Policymakers also noted that it is prepared to alter the pace of purchases if warranted by changes in the economic outlook and reiterated that it would be in no rush to raise interest rates after finishing the taper next year.
on the bond markets, United States 10-Year rates were at 1.603%.