Dow Index Rises Modestly as Wall Street Awaits Fed Decision on Interest Rates

November 8, 2018

New York (Nov 8)  Stocks traded mixed on Thursday, Nov. 8, following a Wall Street rally that came after the results of the midterm elections appeared unlikely to trigger major changes for either the domestic economy or the path of interest rates in the United States.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25 points, or 0.1%, to 26,205, the S&P 500 declined 0.14%, and the Nasdaq slumped 0.37%.

Stocks rallied Wednesday, Nov. 7, as the midterm elections played out pretty much as expected. The Dow jumped 545 points, or 2.1%, to 26,180, and the S&P 500 closed at 2,813, its highest finish in four weeks. The Nasdaq gained 2.6%.

The Federal Reserve is expected Thursday to announce its decision on interest rates. Experts have predicted the central bank won't raise interest rates at the meeting, but indications were the Fed will do so at its meeting next month. The Fed has raised rates three times so far in 2018. The announcement is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET

•Federal Reserve Hawks Could Snuff Out November's $1 Trillion Stock Rally

Tesla Inc. (TSLA - Get Report)  rose 0.9% after the electric vehicle company appointed current board member Robyn Denholm as chair.

Denholm succeeds Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk, who agreed to relinquish the chairmanship for three years in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission stemming from misleading tweets he made claiming to have financing to take the company private.

•Tesla Names Board Member Robyn Denholm as Chair

Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM - Get Report)  shares traded sharply lower Thursday, down 6.6%, after the chipmaker forecast weaker-than-expected revenue for the December quarter following Apple Inc.'s  (AAPL - Get Report) decision to use chips from Intel Corp.  (INTC

Qualcomm posted a loss of 35 cents a share for the three months ended in September, its fiscal fourth quarter, and said a one-time tax boost would help fiscal first-quarter earnings rise to as high as $1.15 a share on sales of between $4.5 billion and $5.3 billion. Both figures, however, missed analysts' forecasts, and the company said Apple's move to Intel chips would hit both its top and bottom lines.

•Qualcomm Slumps After Apple Move to New iPhone Chips Trims Revenue Guidance



Square Inc.'s (SQ - Get Report) third-quarter earnings of 13 cents a share topped expectations by 2 cents but the payments company said it expects fourth-quarter earnings of 12 cents to 13 cents, below analysts' forecasts of 15 cents. Net revenue of $431 million beat estimates of $414 million.



Square fell 9.9%.

•Square Tanks on Soft Earnings Guidance, Downgrade



D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI - Get Report) reported strong earnings quarterly earnings though warned it was seeing signs of "moderating' demand. The stock declined 5.5%.



Roku Inc. (ROKU) shares tumbled 18.4% after the streaming video platform said it expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter results in the range of a loss of $4 million to earnings of $3 million, below analysts' forecasts for earnings of $7 million.

•Roku Shares Fall Sharply on Weak Fourth-Quarter Guidance



Arris International PLC (ARRS - Get Report) rose 10.1% to $30.61 after it reached an agreement to be acquired by CommScope Holding Co. (COMM - Get Report) for $31.75 a share. The deal was valued at about $7.4 billion, including debt.

TheStree

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