US markets advanced ahead of the latest monetary policy pronouncements from the Federal Reserve- Dow inched +2-points higher. JPMorgan Chase & Co fell -3.1% as it lowered its full-year net interest income forecast. The broader S&P500 gained +0.52%, with Communication Services (up 1.72%), Real Estate (+1.39%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.03%) and Information Technology (+1.00%) all logging gains of 1% or more and leading eight of the eleven primary sectors higher. Financials (down -1.36% was the worst performing sector). Oracle Corp gained +2.5% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was reviewing the companies bid to become the “strategic partner” for TikTok’s U.S. operations, which is owned by China-based ByteDance. The technology-centric NASDAQ +1.21%. Amazon.com Inc rose +1.71% and Google-parent Alphabet Inc +1.46%, while Netflix Inc gained +4.14% and Facebook Inc +2.36%. Microsoft Corp rose +0.44% in extended trading (after a +1.64% gain in the regular session) after announcing it will raise its dividend by ~10% to US$56 cents per share from US$0.51c. Microsoft also disclosed that it will hold a virtual annual shareholders meeting on 2 December. Apple Inc (up +0.16%, unwinding an earlier gain of ~3%) unveiled new Apple Watches and iPads at a fall launch event that was devoid of iPhone announcements. The company also announced a new fitness subscription service and the option to bundle Apple services for a lower price than users would have had to pay to sign up for them each individually.
