U.S. stock futures were pointing to a modestly higher open on Tuesday, following the longest weekly winning streak since 2017 for the S&P 500. But volumes are expected to be lower as many investors take an extended holiday break in a shortened week of trading.
How are stock-index futures trading?
- S&P 500 futures ES00, +0.14% rose 6.5 points, or 0.1% to 4,811.50
- Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, +0.11% gained 46 points, or 0.1%, to 37,785
- Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, +0.19% gained 30 points, or 0.1%, to 17,010
Stocks finished a choppy, preholiday trading session mostly higher on Friday. The S&P 500 SPX rose 7.88 points, or 0.17%, to 4,754.63, the Dow industrials DJIA slipped 18.38 points, or 0.05%, to 37,385.97 and the Nasdaq Composite COMP gained 29.11 points or 0.19%, to 14,992.97.
What’s driving markets
Friday’s session marked eight straight weekly gains for all three major indexes, and the longest such streak for the S&P 500 since the week ending Nov. 3, 2017. For the Dow, it marked the longest winning run since Feb. 22, 2019.
Many investors may now be looking for the so-called “Santa Claus rally” to further fuel stock-market gains that have been driven of late by optimism that the Federal Reserve may start cutting interest rates as early as the first half of 2024.
That period will often see stocks rise during the last five trading days of the current calendar year and the first two trading sessions of the new year. But some analysts have cautioned that investors should dial back their expectations for this seasonal year-end gift, especially as some of the rate-cut hopes for the Fed may be overly optimistic.
Data released Friday showed the rate of U.S. inflation based on the Federal Reserve’s preferred PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) index fell in November for the first time since 2020 and indicated that price pressures continue to subside.
The rest of this week will see only a smattering of economic updates, including the October S&P Case-Shiller home price index for 20 cities due at 9 a.m. Eastern. Weekly jobless claims and pending home sales will be released on Thursday.
And next week will mark another shortened week for traders, with markets closed on Monday in observance of the New Year’s Day holiday.