Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Friday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after trending higher over the past several sessions.

Many traders are likely to remain away from their desks following the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday, leading to below average trading activity.

Traders may also be reluctant to make significant moves following the recent upward trend, which lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to new record closing highs.

However, tech stocks may extend their recent surge, with shares of Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK) seeing significant pre-market strength.

The upward momentum for the digital memory firms comes after a report from DigiTimes said South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have hiked prices for fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory by nearly 20 percent for 2026 deliveries.

Looking ahead, overall trading activity may remain somewhat subdued next week due to the New Year’s Day holiday on Thursday.

Reports on weekly jobless claims and pending home sales may still attract attention along with the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.

Stocks showed a lack of direction early in the session but moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages extended their winning streak to five days, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages finished the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow advanced 288.75 points or 0.6 percent to 48,731.16, the Nasdaq rose 51.46 points or 0.2 percent to 23,613.31 and the S&P 500 climbed 22.26 points or 0.3 percent to 6,932.05.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street may have reflected recent upward momentum, with Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Northlight Asset Management, noting the “path of least resistance is higher until the end of the year.”

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as many traders were away from their desks ahead of the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday.

The markets will remain closed on Thursday and closed earlier than usual this afternoon in honor of Christmas Eve.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended December 20th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 214,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 224,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 223,000.

“Despite ongoing seasonal volatility, initial jobless claims remain in a range consistent with relatively steady labor market conditions and don’t change out outlook for the labor market or Fed policy,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

While the broader markets moved to the upside over the course of the session, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves.

Housing and banking stocks saw some strength on the day, while gold and oil service stocks moved to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are dipping $0.05 to $58.30 a barrel after edging down $0.03 to $58.35 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after slipping $2.90 to $4,502.80 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $43 to $4,535.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.26 yen versus the 155.79 yen it fetched on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1793 compared to yesterday’s $1.1777.

Asia

Asian stocks advanced in thin holiday trading on Friday after the S&P 500 closed higher for a fifth straight day in a shortened session on Wednesday ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Regional trading volumes, remained thin, with markets in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and much of Europe shut for holidays.

Precious metals climbed, with silver surging past $75 per ounce for the first time and gold hitting a fresh record high, driven by U.S. dollar weakness, rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela, and expectations for two Federal Reserve rate cuts by the end of 2026.

Oil traded higher as investors weighed Venezuela supply risks. The White House has reportedly ordered the U.S. military to focus almost exclusively on enforcing a “quarantine” of Venezuelan oil for at least the next two months.

Elsewhere, Ukraine has widened the scope of its attacks on Russian energy assets, targeting not only crude refineries but also pipelines and other facilities.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.1 percent to end at 3,963.68 after a choppy session. The yuan strengthened past the psychological milestone of 7 per dollar in offshore trading for the first time since September 2024 on bets China’s central bank would allow gradual appreciation of the currency to boost market confidence.

The move came after the People’s Bank of China strengthened its daily reference rate to the strongest level since September 2024.

Japanese stocks climbed after the government revised its economic forecast for the fiscal year to next March. It is believed that a record $785 billion budget unveiled for the next fiscal year will boost consumption and capital expenditure.

Investors shrugged off mixed data pointing to uneven economic recovery. Japan’s industrial production fell more than expected in November, while retail sales posted modest growth. The unemployment rate for November remained at 2.6 percent, matching forecasts.

The Nikkei 225 Index advanced 0.7 percent to 50,750.39, while the broader Topix Index settled 0.2 percent higher at 3,423.06. Among the prominent gainers, Fast Retailing, SoftBank and Advantest all rose around 2 percent.

Seoul stocks closed higher, driven by sharp gains in big-cap tech shares. The Kospi added 0.5 percent to close at 4,129.68, taking its annual gain to 72 percent.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics soared 5.3 percent, its chipmaking rival SK Hynix rallied 1.9 percent and artificial intelligence investment firm SK Square climbed 4.2 percent.

Europe

The major European markets remain closed for the day.

U.S. Economic News

No major U.S. economic data is scheduled to be released today.