U.S. futures were mixed on Wednesday in premarket hours ahead of the crucial inflation data. Major index futures like Dow Jones and Russell 2000 fell, while Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 advanced.
The 10-year and two-year Treasury notes yielded 4.24% and 4.17%, respectively. Expectations of a further 25 basis point rate cut in December rose to 86.1%, up from 78.1% a week ago, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Economists expect annual CPI inflation to rise from 2.6% in October to 2.7% in November, according to TradingEconomics consensus estimates. Core CPI — which excludes volatile food and energy prices — is projected to remain steady at 3.3% year-over-year, with a 0.3% monthly gain, mirroring October's pace.
Wednesday’s release will provide insights into inflation trends. Federal Reserve officials are currently in a quiet period ahead of their December meeting.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.21% |
| S&P 500 | 0.10% |
| Dow Jones | -0.12% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.03% |
In premarket trading on Wednesday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was up 0.09% to $603.38 and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ advanced 0.2% to $521.64, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From The Last Session
U.S. stocks declined on Tuesday, extending the Dow’s four-day losing streak. Oracle Corp.’s ORCL weak earnings and Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL subsidiary Google’s quantum computing chip news impacted the market.
On the economic data front, U.S. nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased by 2.2% in the third quarter, which is in line with the preliminary reading.
Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a negative note, with real estate, information technology, and materials stocks recording the biggest losses on Tuesday.
However, communication services and consumer staples stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.25% | 19,687.24 |
| S&P 500 | -0.30% | 6,034.91 |
| Dow Jones | -0.35% | 44,247.83 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.42% | 2,382.77 |
Insights From Analysts
Carson Research’s note written by its chief market strategist Ryan Detrick, said, 2024 "would go down as the best election year return ever," as the S&P 500 Index has made 56 new all-time highs.
He also highlighted that the current bull market is nearly 26 months old and is now up more than 70% from the mid-October 2022 lows. "But the good news for investors is that once previous bull markets got to this point there were many more years of gains left," he said.
"Going back 50 years, we found five other bull markets that had lasted at least this long and the shortest any of them lasted was five total years. Think of it like a cruise ship — once it gets moving, it can be quite hard to stop.”
In the graph shared by Detrick, he highlighted the August 1987 and October 2007 bull markets which lasted for five years each, the November 1980 bull market which lasted 6.2 years, and also March 2000 bull market which lasted for 12.3 years.
The Dow hit a record eight 1,000-point milestones this year and November was a huge month for small caps, with the Russell 2000 up by 10.9%.
"We found 22 other times the Russell 2000 gained at least double digits in a month and six months later it has been higher 90% of the time and a year later up a very solid 15% on average," the note said.
According to a JPMorgan note on its 2025 outlook, “the prospect of deregulation and corporate tax cuts may finally give investors conviction to add to previously unloved areas of the market, like value and mid/small cap stocks, which are also benefiting from earnings recovery and attractive valuations.”
As the cost of capital declines with interest rates, “Consumers and companies should resume capital-intensive expenditures. Durable goods subsectors, particularly those tied to housing, should also see a boost.
“Financials should benefit from increased loan and insurance demand, a more favorable yield curve, normalizing M&A and IPO activity and prospects for deregulation, while falling rates also increase the relative value of bond proxy sectors like utilities and real estate,” the note added.
Upcoming Economic Data
This week’s economic calendar is packed with essential data releases that will help investors shape their future plans and strategies.
- On Wednesday, November’s headline and core consumer price index data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- The monthly U.S. federal budget data will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.
- On Thursday, initial jobless claims data till Dec. 7 and the core and headline producer price index for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
- On Friday, the import price index data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Stocks In Focus:
- Rigetti Computing Inc. RGTI was up 12.3% in premarket after the company along with its partner Quantum Machines made progress in quantum computing by using AI to automate the calibration of a 9-qubit Novera QPU, achieving unprecedented accuracy and speed,
- GameStop Corp. GME rose 3.30% in the premarket session as the company swung to profit despite a dip in its revenue.
- Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL was up 1.20% in premarket after it announced a major development in quantum computing through the use of its Willow quantum chip.
- Quantum Computing Inc. QUBT declined 6.7% in the premarket hours. The company said that it has entered into a securities purchase agreement to raise up to $50 million in a registered direct offering to institutional investors.
- Sealsq Corp. LAES rose 138.18% after it partnered with IC’ALPS to strengthen its ASIC development capabilities by combining IC’ALPS’ design expertise with its own security IP and production knowledge.
- Investors are awaiting earnings results from Macy’s, Inc. M, Adobe Inc. ADBE, and Nordson Corporation NDSN today.
Commodities, Bonds And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures rose in the early New York session, advancing 1.14% to hover around $69.7 per barrel.
The gold spot index rose by 0.26% to $2,725.21 per ounce. The Dollar Index was up 0.26% to 106.68 level.
Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday as China’s CSI 300, Australia’s ASX 200, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined. While, Japan’s Nikkei 225, India’s S&P BSE Sensex, and South Korea’s Kospi Index advanced. Most European markets declined.
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