After Hours Report
Last Updated: 10-Dec-25 13:13 ET | Archive
After hours report provides a review of the day’s stock market and treasury market session performance with a recap of indices, sector, and industry performance, trends, as well as key news items that impacted the markets. Get a run-down of general news events, broker ratings changes, key after hours earnings reports and guidance, and highlights of events scheduled for the next day. On Fridays, the After Hours Report is a recap of the week’s stock market activity.
Midday market summary: Market marks time ahead of FOMC decision
The S&P 500 (+0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.2%), and DJIA (+0.4%) have spent the first half of today's action in a familiar, muted fashion ahead of the 2:00 p.m. ET FOMC decision.
The market has been expecting a 25-basis point rate reduction at the December FOMC meeting for the past several weeks, though it is anticipated that commentary will have a hawkish tilt toward additional near-term easing.
As a result, equities have seen some subdued sessions this week, with the major averages holding modest week-to-date losses as a result.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite trails its peers today as the information technology sector (-0.6%) lags, though the sector has rebounded from even steeper losses this morning. Microsoft (MSFT 481.76, -10.26, -2.09%) and NVIDIA (NVDA 182.84, -2.13, -1.15%) are the worst-performing "magnificent seven" names today, putting pressure on the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (-0.4%).
Meanwhile, Oracle (ORCL 219.72, -1.82, -0.82%) and Broadcom (AVGO 403.37, -2.92, -0.72%) trade with more modest losses ahead of their earnings reports this week.
The communication services sector (-0.4%) also faces some mega-cap weakness from Meta Platforms (META 649.92, -7.04, -1.07%).
Elsewhere in the sector, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD 29.54, +1.28, +4.51%) widens its week-to-date gain to 13.3% as the takeover battle for the company intensifies. Bloomberg reported that Paramount Skydance (PSKY 14.83, +0.19, +1.27%) could substantially increase its unsolicited all-cash $30 per share offer.
The utilities sector (-0.4%) rounds out the three retreating S&P 500 sectors, while eight trade higher.
Gains are relatively modest, which has several sectors vying for the top spot on today's leaderboard.
The health care sector (+0.8%) is one of those names, rebounding from a 1.0% slide yesterday. The sector has faced pressure in December after a run of outperformance in November that coincided with some shakiness in the AI trade.
The industrials sector (+0.8%) holds a nearly identical gain, supported by a rally in GE Vernova (GEV 713.12, +87.82, +14.04%) after the company issued upbeat guidance and provided an optimistic long-term financial outlook.
Finally, the consumer discretionary sector (+0.8%) rounds out the three-way tie atop today's standings. Amazon (AMZN 231.45, +3.53, +1.55%) and NIKE (NKE 65.28, +1.96, +3.09%) provide solid support, while strength in homebuilder names sends the iShare U.S. Home Construction ETF 1.4% higher.
Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+0.1%) adds modest gains to this week's run of outperformance, reflecting the prevailing view that the Fed will deliver a rate cut at today's meeting.
Overall, the broader market continues to drift in wait-and-see mode, with investors reluctant to make meaningful moves until Fed Chair Powell's remarks provide clearer direction this afternoon.
Reviewing today's data:
- Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index 4.8%; Prior -1.4%
- Q3 Employment Cost Index 0.8% (Briefing.com consensus 0.9%); Prior 0.9%
- The key takeaway from the report is that it was an inflation-friendly report, evidenced by wages and salaries decelerating on a year-over-year basis for civilian workers (3.5% vs 3.9% a year ago), private industry (3.6% vs 3.8% a year ago), and state and local government workers (3.5% vs 4.6% a year ago).
