FX.co ★ U.S. Stocks Poised To Extend Yesterday's Rally In Early Trading

The stock market saw a significant surge at the end of a previous session, implying that today's early trading will also have a strong outlook. Currently, the primary index futures are predicting a more robust opening for the markets, with numbers indicating an increase of 0.5 percent in S&P 500 futures.

This positive growth is likely due to the optimistic response to the Federal Reserve's recent monetary policy announcement. As expected, the Fed maintained interest rates, but it also predicts three rate cuts in this year, which many investors see as a positive signal for the stock market.

Larry Tentarelli, President and Founder of Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, voiced a similar perspective. He stated that their main concern had been the recent hike in the Consumer Price Index, but the Federal Reserve's unchanged rate cut forecast was a positive indicator.

After the Labor Department reported a minor decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ending March 16th, the futures remained optimistic. Initial jobless claims lightly fell to 210,000, with a decrease of 2,000 from the prior week's level of 212,000. Economists had predicted the claims to increase to 215,000, thus this decrease was surprising.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank also reported a modest reduction in the regional manufacturing activity growth rate for March. Although, a positive reading still points to growth.

Later, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its February report on existing home sales. After an increase in January, forecasts suggest the rate for February will decrease. The Conference Board will also report on leading economic indicators for February, with predictions indicating a decrease.

On Wednesday, the markets remained stable for most of the trading session, rallying after the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. All primary averages showed significant uptrends, reaching new record closing highs.

Most Asian-Pacific regional stock markets saw a rise during Thursday's trading. Especially, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index increased by 2.0 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

European stocks also saw an uptick, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index increasing by 1.5 percent and the German DAX Index rising by 0.4 percent. However, the French CAC 40 Index remained almost unchanged.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures fell slightly after a slump the day before, whereas gold futures experienced a significant increase. On the currency front, the U.S. dollar stands at 151.29 yen compared to the 151.26 yen at the close of New York trading, and against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0904 compared to yesterday's $1.0922.