FX.co ★ US Stocks Advance, Meta Jumps

On Thursday, U.S. stock markets experienced a positive upturn, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both advancing by 0.2%, and the Dow Jones climbing by approximately 80 points. This upward trend was largely driven by gains in the financial and communication services sectors. Notably, Meta shares surged nearly 4% following a Bloomberg report that executives may be contemplating budget cuts of up to 30% for the metaverse division next year. Additionally, JPMorgan saw an increase of over 1%, Nvidia rose by 0.5%, and Salesforce's shares improved by 0.7% after the company forecasted stronger-than-expected revenue. Concurrently, investors remain optimistic that the Federal Reserve will implement another interest rate cut next week, with current market probabilities at about 87%. Reinforcing this sentiment, the latest Challenger report highlighted a cooling labor market, with layoffs reaching 71,321 in the previous month—the highest November figure since 2022—which cumulatively totals 1.17 million for the year to date. Conversely, initial jobless claims dropped last week to 191,000, marking the lowest level in over three years, although this data does encompass the variable Thanksgiving period.