U.S. stock index futures were quiet on Friday during a shortened Thanksgiving trading session, but Wall Street appeared poised to continue its weekly winning streak on optimism that U.S. interest rates have reached their peak.
The top three U.S. stock indexes are on track for their fourth consecutive weekly gains, driven by hopes that the Federal Reserve has finished raising interest rates and signs that the U.S. economy remains strong.
The benchmark S&P 500 is just 1% away from hitting a new yearly high.
All eyes are on retailers gearing up for what they hope will be another record-breaking global shopping spree on Black Friday, traditionally the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.
“Earnings from companies like Walmart and Best Buy show a weakening demand environment, indicating the potential for a disappointing fourth quarter for retailers,” said Joshua Mahoney, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
“Nevertheless, with consumer spending remaining robust throughout the year, there’s a good chance we’ll see shoppers taking advantage of sales to maintain their standard of living.”
U.S. stock markets were closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will have a shortened session until 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday. The market closed higher on Wednesday following reports on jobless claims, durable goods, and consumer sentiment, suggesting the economy is cooling but may stay strong enough to avoid a recession.
S&P Global’s flash U.S. Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) due at 9:45 a.m. ET is expected to show a very slight dip in factory and services sector activity in November.
At 5:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 80 points, or 0.23%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 5 points, or 0.11%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 2 points, or 0.01%.
In individual stocks, Nvidia fell 2.1% premarket after reports that the chipmaker informed customers in China that it was delaying the launch of a new artificial intelligence chip to comply with U.S. export rules until the first quarter of next year.
iRobot surged 32.9% following a report that Amazon is set to receive unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $1.4 billion acquisition of the robot vacuum maker.
U.S.-listed shares of Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng rose 4.1% after Volkswagen announced it will develop a new platform for entry-level electric vehicles in China.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
