U.S. stock futures were mixed on Thursday following Wednesday’s rally. Futures of the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones were higher, whereas the gauge of small-cap stocks Russell 2000 was trading lower in premarket trade.
Traders responded to better-than-expected inflation data on Wednesday as most stocks rallied. The headline Consumer Price Index rose 2.9% year-over-year in December, up from November's 2.7%, matching economist forecasts.
The 10-year Treasury note yielded 4.66%, while the two-year note yielded 4.28%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool indicated a 97.3% probability that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady at its upcoming meeting on Jan. 31, 2025.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.48% |
| S&P 500 | 0.33% |
| Dow Jones | 0.06% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.19% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ both experienced positive premarket trading on Thursday. SPY rose 0.35% to $594.86, and QQQ climbed 0.45% to $519.01, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From The Last Session
U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday, experiencing their largest single-day gain since Nov. 6, 2024.
Inflation data released on Wednesday showed a slight uptick in consumer prices in December, matching economists’ expectations. However, the monthly increase was the largest since March.
Several major banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM, Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS, and Citigroup Inc.C reported strong fourth-quarter earnings, with Citigroup also announcing a significant share buyback program.
Most sectors within the S&P 500 experienced gains, particularly consumer discretionary, communication services, and financial stocks. Conversely, consumer staples stocks bucked the trend and closed lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a substantial gain of around 703 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also recorded significant increases.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2.45% | 19,511.23 |
| S&P 500 | 1.83% | 5,949.91 |
| Dow Jones | 1.65% | 43,221.55 |
| Russell 2000 | 1.99% | 2,263.29 |
Insights From Analysts
After Wednesday’s rally, Charlie Bilello, the chief market strategist at Creative Planning said in an X post that about one-third of the S&P 500’s composition was concentrated in the ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks. According to a chart shared by him the concentration in these stocks rose to 33.5% from 28% a year ago.
Talking about inflation, Collin Martin, director, of fixed income strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research said, “CPI was a step in the right direction, but we’ll need to see more reports like this for evidence that the disinflationary trend has resumed.”
At the same time, Liz Ann Sonders, the chief investment strategist, at Charles Schwab highlighted that the spread between S&P 500's forward earnings yield and 10-year Treasury yield has reached a new 23-year low.
According to RMB Capital, the U.S. consumer remained resilient while U.S. government spending continued unchecked despite sticky inflation and higher interest rates.
“The incoming administration appears focused on the challenging task of bolstering economic growth while at the same time reducing the deficit. The most critical element of this endeavor will be curtailing the deficit while keeping longer-term yields contained, so as not to disrupt economic expansion,” it added.
See Also: How to Trade Futures
Upcoming Economic Data
- On Thursday at 8:30 a.m., ET initial jobless claims data for the week ending Jan. 11 will be released.
- December’s U.S. Retail Sales figures will be announced.
- The Import Price Index for December will be published.
- The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey for January will be released.
- At 10:00 a.m., ET, the business inventories data for November will be released.
- The Home Builder Confidence Index for January will be published.
- On Friday, at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Housing Starts and Building Permits data for December will be released.
- At 9:15 a.m., ET, the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization figures for December will be announced.
Stocks In Focus:
- Bank of America Corp BAC was up 0.38% in premarket on Thursday as Wall Street expects it to report quarterly earnings of 77 cents per share on revenue of $25.19 billion before the opening bell.
- Morgan Stanley MS was up 1.49% ahead of its earnings before the opening bell. Analysts expect it to report quarterly earnings of $1.70 per share on revenue of $15.03 billion.
- UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH was up 0.4% as Wall Street expects it to report quarterly earnings of $6.72 per share on revenue of $101.76 billion before the opening bell.
- Taiwan Semiconductor TSM was up 4.83% after it beat the fourth quarter revenue and EPS estimate. Its top client Nvidia Corporation NVDA was also up 2.04%.
- Synovus Financial Corp SNV was up 0.46% after reporting upbeat fourth-quarter financial results on Wednesday.
- Powell Max Ltd PMAX was up 84.66% as it is targeting firms with between $1 million and $5 million in revenue to expand into the Hong Kong and Asian financial communications market.
- Douyu International Holdings Ltd DOYU was up 23.76% after naming Simin Ren as co-CEO and announced a special cash dividend of $9.94/ADS.
- BigBear.ai Holdings Inc BBAI was up 14.45% as it appointed Kevin McAleenan as CEO and a member of the company’s board, effective as of Wednesday. McAleenan will replace Mandy Long, who is transitioning to an advisory role.
Commodities, Gold And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.30% to hover around $78.47 per barrel.
The gold spot index was up by 0.71% to $2,737.06 per ounce. The Dollar Index was down 0.01% at 109.083 level.
Asian markets closed higher on Thursday as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, India’s S&P BSE Sensex, China’s CSI 300, Australia’s ASX 200, Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi index rose. European markets were also trading higher.
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