Futures pause after Wall Street rally on Fed policy pivot By Reuters

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday, taking a break from the previous session’s rally that put Wall Street’s main indexes on course for weekly gains after the Federal Reserve took a key policy stance monetary at the beginning of the week.

The company posted its eighth session of gains in nine on Thursday and ended at an all-time high, which exceeded the target set in mid-July. The blue-chip Dow settled above the psychological level of 42,000 points and hit a record.

The indices, along with the tech-heavy Nasdaq, are on track for weekly gains of more than 1%. The S&P 500 is also up more than 1 percent so far this month, bucking a historical trend that has shown September to be a weaker one for U.S. stocks, on average.

At 5:43 a.m. ET, the Dow E-mini was down 12 points, or 0.03%, the S&P 500 E-mini was down 14 points, or 0.24%, and the E-mini was down 75 points, or 0. 37%.

Risk appetite was boosted earlier in the week after the Fed kicked off its easing cycle with a large but expected 50 basis point cut and made sure they were still on track. The central bank also projected a period of steady economic growth and low unemployment and inflation.

With economic data light, investors will focus on remarks from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker due later in the day for the central bank’s outlook on policy and the economy.

Traders see a 59.1% chance the Fed will hold on to a 25bps rate cut in November, according to CME Group’s (NASDAQ: ) FedWatch tool. Rates are expected to fall by 72 bps by the end of the year, according to LSEG data.

Investors will also brace for volatility due to “triple witching” – an event where options and futures linked to stock indices, futures and single stocks expire on the third Friday of the last month of the quarter.

Among top companies, FedEx (NYSE: year. Rival United Parcel Service (NYSE: ) fell 2.4%.

NIKE (NYSE: ) rose 6.9% after the sportswear giant said former chief executive Elliott Hill will join the company to succeed John Donahoe as chairman and CEO.

A rebalancing of the main indices is also expected. Dell (NYSE: ) fell 0.7%, Palantir Technologies (NYSE: ) fell 2.4%, stocks are expected to join the S&P 500 before the market opens on September 23.

Globally, investors pondered whether the world’s dominant economy would boom or face a recession. The central banks of Britain and Japan took a more cautious stance on interest rates, days after the Fed’s verdict.

Stocks have historically performed well in a rate-cutting cycle, as lower borrowing costs could ease pressures on corporate profits. Still, the outlook looks bleak, with S&P 500 valuations well above their long-term average.