The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C.
This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
Second cut
The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points, bringing it to 3.5%. The ECB's Governing Council, however, said it was "not pre-committing to a particular rate path." Markets are pricing it a 70% chance the ECB will leave rates unchanged at its next meeting, even though the central bank cut its growth forecast for the euro zone to 0.8% from 0.9%.
Markets regaining confidence
U.S. technology stocks rallied on Thursday, helping the Nasdaq Composite rise 1%. The S&P 500 advanced 0.75% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.58%. Europe's Stoxx 600 index added 0.8% as the ECB cut interest rates. Shares of Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche dropped 2.16%, while its Danish competitor Novo Nordisk jumped 2.66%.
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Hotter-than-expected core, again
The U.S. producer price index, which measures the prices producers receive before retailers sell goods and services to consumers, rose 0.2% in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's in line with the Dow Jones consensus estimate. However, like the consumer price index, core PPI came in 10 basis points higher than expected.
Oracle predicts revenue explosion
Oracle's having a good week. Shares of the software maker climbed 2.67% Thursday. They popped a further 6.12% during extended trading after Oracle lifted its 2026 revenue forecast to $66 billion and, for 2029, a whopping $104 billion. CEO Safra Catz backed those numbers by highlighting Oracle's partnership with Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
[PRO] Bitcoin investors favor Trump
Bitcoin might hit $125,000 if Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election, according to Standard Chartered. But even if Kamala Harris clinches victory, the bank thinks bitcoin prices will still rise. The cryptocurrency is currently trading at around $58,000, below its all-time high of more than $73,000 in March.
Money Report
The bottom line
All the key pieces of data are in before the U.S. Federal Reserve meets next week.
A reminder: The Fed's goal is to balance employment with price stability. We've had reports for both over the past two weeks.
Last Friday, the August employment report showed the number of jobs added was lower than expected but higher than the previous month. The unemployment rate dropped slightly.
Jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 7 increased from the previous week to 230,000. But it was a marginal rise, suggesting mass layoffs aren't happening yet.
Overall, they indicate a cooling, not collapsing, jobs market.
It's the same with the consumer and producer price index reports.
Wednesday's CPI report showed the lowest 12-month inflation rate in two-and-a-half years. But core inflation was higher than anticipated.
Likewise for the PPI report on Thursday, which serves as a leading indicator for consumer prices. A comfortable and expected headline number, but core PPI rose more than forecast.
Prices, then, are falling but there are perhaps stubborn pockets in the consumer economy — like housing and eggs (again!) — that are still climbing.
In short, the data hasn't cleared up whether the Fed will cut by 25 or 50 basis points. In fact, it has only created more confusion.
Traders are also undecided. They think there's a 57% chance of a 25 point cut and 43% of a 50 point one, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Just yesterday the proportion was 86% to 14%, respectively.
Still, as the Fed meeting approaches, markets seemed to have regained some optimism.
The S&P 500 added 0.75% for its fourth consecutive day of gains, and it is just about 1.3% shy of its record close.
While what the Fed will do cannot be predicted with certainty, even the widely expected 25 basis point cut will likely lift sentiment and help pull markets out of that September slough.
– CNBC's Jeff Cox, Pia Singh and Sarah Min contributed to this story.
