On Thursday, the main US stock markets fell predominantly, with weak income reports, a collapse of the conglomerate sector, and the results of the Fed meeting.

As expected, the Fed left rates unchanged, in the range of 2% -2.25%, but it signaled about the likelihood of an increase in rates following the December meeting. The accompanying statement by the Fed noted that data from the September meeting points to a further strengthening of the labor market, as well as strong growth in economic activity. "At the same time, the Central Bank pointed to the recent weakening of capital investments of companies whose rates , have become more moderate compared to those observed earlier this year.

In addition, the focus was on US data. As it became known, the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States last week (October 28 - November 3) decreased seasonally by 1,000 applications (from 215,000 to 214,000), as expected, showed the data of the US Department of Labor. This indicates that the labor shortage in the labor market persists. The Ministry of Labor reported that the less volatile four-week moving average also dropped to 213,750, which is 250 units less than in the previous week (214,000). Meanwhile, the number of secondary requests for the week of October 21-27 decreased by 8,000, to 1,623,000, the lowest level since 1973.

Most of the components of DOW finished trading in positive territory (18 out of 30). The growth leader was 3M Company (MMM, + 1.38%). Caterpillar Inc. shares turned out to be an outsider. (CAT, -2.75%).

Almost all sectors of the S & P showed an increase. The largest decline was shown by the conglomerate sector (-2.5%). Only the financial sector grew (+ 0.1%).

At the time of closing:

Dow 26,191.22 +10.92 + 0.04%

S & P 500 2,806.83 -7.06 -0.25%

Nasdaq 100 7,530.89 -39.87 -0.53%

U.S. stock-index futures fell on Thursday, as market participants took a breather after the previous day’s rally, which was triggered by the results of the U.S. midterm elections, while awaiting the outcomes of the Fed's meeting.

Global Stocks:

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Qualcomm (QCOM) reported Q4 FY 2018 earnings of $0.90 per share (versus $0.92 in Q4 FY 2017), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.84.

The company’s quarterly revenues amounted to $5.833 bln (-2.1% y/y), beating analysts’ consensus estimate of $5.541 bln.

The company also issued guidance for Q1 FY 2019, projecting EPS of $1.05-1.15 (versus analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.92) and revenues of $4.50-5.30 bln (versus analysts’ consensus estimate of $5.58 bln).

QCOM fell to $58.63 (-7.25%) in pre-market trading.

A positive start of trading in the stock markets of Europe is expected, following the positive tone on Wall Street and on Asian funds markets. The results of the midterm elections in the USA remain in the focus of the markets. Post-election euphoria is beginning to decline, but this will probably have more impact on US futures.