Stock Market Today: Dow futures rise ahead of holiday-shortened trading week
How are stock-index futures trading:
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 98 points, or 0.23%, to 43,409
S&P 500 index futures increased 22 points, or 0.37%, to 6,024
Nasdaq 100 futures increased 126.75 points, or 0.59%, to 21,693
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 498 points, or 1.18%, to 42,840, the S&P 500 increased 64 points, or 1.09%, to 5,931, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 200 points, or 1.03%, to 19,573.
Stock index futures edged higher early Monday morning as investors prepared for a shortened trading week that will see stock markets close early for Christmas on Tuesday and remain closed until the morning of Dec. 26.
Markets were boosted at the end of last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) publication of its Personal Consumer Expenditure (PCE) price index report on Friday that showed only a slight increase in inflation that was lower than economists expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 all made gains on Friday having suffered losses earlier last week after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it is likely to take a more cautious approach to cutting interest rates in 2025.
Christmas Eve, on Dec. 24, has traditionally marked the opening of a ‘Santa Claus rally’ trading period that runs through to Jan. 3. In the years since 1950, the S&P 500 index has posted average gains of 1.29% in the Santa Claus rally period.
Investors are now awaiting publication of the Conference Board’s U.S. Consumer Confidence report for December on Monday that may offer key insights into the way consumers view the state of America’s economy.