U.S. stock futures rallied up ahead of the final trading day of the week.
What you should know
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed gains of about 0.38% while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were also posting significant gains.
The U.S stock markets are expected to close much earlier, as stock traders and global investors observe Christmas.
- Still, Stock traders remain on the sidelines at Thursday’s trading session, partly responsible for the low volatility prevailing across the market spectrum.
- The Dow and the S&P 500 are, however, on pace for a losing week amid profit-taking action.
- The policy uncertainty also damped investor spirits in the holiday week. President Donald Trump recently rebuked Congress’ $900 billion COVID-19 relief package as an unsuitable ‘disgrace.’
- The U.S leader took particular issue with the direct payments, which he said should be lifted from $600 to $2,000.
Quick fact: American Stock futures are simply standardized contracts that global traders use in purchasing or selling the U.S stock in a future date. This means that the U.S stock futures give an insight into what global investors see before the market opens or after it closes.
What they are saying
Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at Axi, in a note to Nairametrics, spoke on the prevailing market condition keeping stock traders edgy.
- “US equities had a mixed session while European stocks reversed a three-day slide and all but relegating the ghost of Christmas past back to the closet. A slew of macro-economic data released overnight highlights the slower growth trajectory that the economy is tackling. Consumer confidence slipped again, and inflation declined month-over-month. However, the labor market exhibits more resilience, with weekly jobless claims falling a bit further than expected. But I do not think this data comes as much of a surprise to anyone and merely echoes the need for both monetary and fiscal policy to do much of the heavy lifting until the vaccine rolls out.”
What to expect
Stock traders and global investors are still waiting to hear from President Trump on approving the stimulus deal, though House GOP Leader McCarthy indicated President Trump has not decided on vetoing the fiscal relief bill yet.
