U.S. stock futures advanced on Wednesday after closing lower on Tuesday. Futures of all four major indices rose in premarket trade.
After a mixed close on Monday and a fall on Tuesday, the U.S. market has remained sluggish in yet another truncated week as it will remain closed for former President Jimmy Carter’s ‘National Day of Mourning’ on Thursday, Jan. 9.
The 10-year and two-year Treasury notes yielded 4.67% and 4.28%, respectively. The probability of having no change in the interest rates for the upcoming Jan. 31, 2025, FOMC meeting was at 95.2%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.38% |
| S&P 500 | 0.30% |
| Dow Jones | 0.24% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.11% |
In premarket trading on Wednesday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was up 0.33% to $590.60 and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ rose 0.36% to $517.02, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From The Last Session
U.S. stocks experienced a downturn on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 closing more than 1% lower. This decline was primarily driven by a decline in major technology companies.
Nvidia Corp. NVDA shares retreated significantly after reaching a new peak. Tesla Inc. TSLA stock faced a setback following a downgrade by BofA Securities. Meta Platforms Inc. META also saw a decline in its share price.
Economic data released on Tuesday showed a widening of the U.S. trade deficit. Imports increased at a faster pace than exports, contributing to the deficit.
Most sectors within the S&P 500 ended the day in negative territory. Consumer discretionary, communication services and information technology were among the hardest hit. However, energy and healthcare sectors bucked the trend and closed higher.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | -1.89% | 19,489.68 |
| S&P 500 | -1.11% | 5,909.03 |
| Dow Jones | -0.42% | 42,528.36 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.74% | 2,249.80 |
Insights From Analysts
Talking about Donald Trump‘s policy agenda, Christopher Wood from Jefferies wrote in his GREED & Fear note dated Jan. 2 that it’s clear that certain aspects of Trump’s policy, such as the proposed tariffs and the crackdown on immigration could be inherently inflationary, something the Federal Reserve is likely aware of.
According to the note, there is a fundamental contradiction between the expectations of a disinflationary, productivity-driven boom fueled by AI and deregulation, which the U.S. stock market has been celebrating since the presidential election, and the potential economic impact of tariffs and immigration restrictions.
Regarding the latter, even if mass deportations do not occur, as is GREED & Fear's base case, a substantial reduction in new arrivals could still lead to stagflationary effects.
According to the chief market strategist at Carson Research, Ryan Detrick an average year sees gains of 9.5%. This jumps to 10.6% after a 20% gain, “Suggesting better than average returns,” he said in a note dated Jan. 7.
“The bull very well might have a little more up his sleeves this year. But taking this one step further shows that after back-to-back 20% gains, the next year is up 20% on average and never lower,” he added.
According to Charles Schwab commentary, “The month lacked a significant ‘Santa Claus Rally,’ but investor sentiment appeared bullish, particularly at the start and end of December. Many clients appeared to close out the year by rebalancing their portfolios, adding exposure to underperforming sectors such as health care and energy and trimming positions in outperformers like information technology and communication services.” –
Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates said that there’s no reason to be overly concerned by the recent volatility; the trend remains positive.
“If interest rates are up because the economy is strong, that will be good for earnings growth, which will outshine any small increments in financing costs. And global market yields will likely tie the Fed's hands from being too restrictive anyway,” he added.
See Also: How to Trade Futures
Upcoming Economic Data
Several important data points will be released in this truncated week that will help investors determine the future course of action.
- On Wednesday, December’s ADP employment data will be released at 8:15 a.m., ET.
- The minutes of the Fed’s December FOMC meeting will be released at 2:00 p.m., ET.
- Consumer credit data for December will be announced at 3:00 p.m., ET.
- On Thursday, initial jobless claims till Jan. 4 will be announced at 8:30 a.m., ET.
- Wholesale inventories data for November will be released at 10:00 a.m., ET.
- On Friday, the U.S. employment report, unemployment rate, and hourly wages data for December along with hourly wages year over year will be released at 8:30 a.m., ET.
- The preliminary consumer sentiment data for January will be announced at 10:00 a.m., ET.
Stocks In Focus:
- Cal-Maine Foods Inc. CALM was up 3.78% in premarket on Wednesday after it posted better-than-expected results for its second quarter. The company said it set a quarterly record for total dozens sold and specialty dozens sold. It also announced a cash dividend of approximately $1.49 per share.
- Acuity Brands Inc. AYI was up 2.35% in premarket as analysts expect it to post quarterly earnings at $3.89 per share on revenue of $956.18 million. The company will release earnings before the markets open.
- AAR Corp. AIR was up 2.36% in premarket after it posted stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. The company reported quarterly earnings of 90 cents per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of 84 cents.
- Fubotv Inc. FUBO was down 19.05% as Halper Sadeh LLC, an investor rights law firm, initiated an investigation on whether its merger with the Walt Disney Company's Hulu + Live TV business is fair to FuboTV shareholders.
- Blue Hat Interactive Entertainment Technology BHAT was up 70.70% after it announced a $4.4 million registered direct offering of 55,200,000 Ordinary Shares.
- XTI Aerospace Inc. XTIA was down 49.08% in premarket after it announced a public offering of over 363 million shares at $0.055 per share and a 1-for-250 share consolidation as part of its 2025 strategic initiatives.
Commodities, Gold And Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures were higher in the early New York session by 1.19% to hover around $75.13 per barrel.
The gold spot index was up by 0.07% to $2,667.29 per ounce. The Dollar Index was up 0.29% to 108.858 level.
Asian markets were mostly lower on Wednesday as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Japan’s Nikkei 225, and China’s CSI 300 index declined. Whereas, Australia’s ASX 200, South Korea’s Kospi index ended higher. European markets were mostly higher in trade.
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