Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange on November 22, 2024 in New York City.
New York Stock Exchange
U.S. stock futures rose late Sunday as Wall Street began to shorten the Thanksgiving trading week. The market is closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and ends early on Friday.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 150 points, or 0.3%. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were each up about 0.4%.
The major averages are off to a positive week as the post-election rally picks up again. The 30 stocks in the Dow rose about 2% last week and closed at a record high. Meanwhile, the broader market index and the Nasdaq both rose about 1.7%. The small-cap Russell 2000 index gained about 4.5% for the week.
President-elect Trump expresses interest in nominating Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent took over as finance minister after the close on Friday. Investors may favor this option and view hedge fund managers as supporters of the stock market. To be sure, Trump said Bessant would help him implement protectionist trade policies, which some investors fear could hurt markets.
“U.S. stocks, the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields all rose sharply due to better-than-expected U.S. economic data and were further boosted by the election results,” said Phillip Colmar, global strategist at MRB Partners.
“However,” he added, “investors should be careful not to be dogmatic in their views and positions, as the policies proposed by President-elect Trump are a conflicting mix of pro-growth fiscal stimulus and stagflationary isolationism.”
Despite this shortened trading week, the outlook for interest rates is back in focus with the release of October’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting will also be released before Thanksgiving.
On the corporate earnings front, several retailers and technology companies are scheduled to release quarterly results this week. Bath and Body Works is scheduled to report its earnings Monday morning. On Tuesday, retailers Macy’s, Nordstrom and Best Buy are due to report results, along with technology companies CrowdStrike and Dell Technologies.
