Futures Pointing To Initial Rebound On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Friday, with stocks likely to regain ground after trending lower over the past few sessions.

The markets may benefit from bargain hunting following the recent pullback, which saw the major averages close lower for four straight sessions.

Renewed strength among technology stocks may contribute to an early advance, as reflected by the 1.0 percent jump by the Nasdaq 100 futures.

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) are surging by 2.7 percent in pre-market trading after the U.S. government granted the chipmaker its annual license to import equipment to its facilities in China.

Major AI players Nvidia (NVDA) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR) are also seeing significant pre-market strength after soaring last year.

Stocks may also benefit from a continuation of the upward momentum seen for much of 2025, which lifted the major averages to new record highs.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as some traders remain away from their desks following the New Year’s Day holiday on Thursday.

A lack of major U.S. economic data may also keep some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several key reports next week, including the closely watched monthly jobs report.

Extending a recent downward move, stocks saw continued weakness during light New Year’s Eve trading on Wednesday. The major averages all showed notable moves to the downside over the course of the session.

The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow fell 303.77 points or 0.6 percent to 48,063.29, the Nasdaq slid 177.09 points or 0.8 percent to 23,241.99 and the S&P 500 declined 50.74 points or 0.7 percent to 6,845.50.

The extended pullback on Wall Street came as some traders continued to cash in on the recent strength in the markets.

While the major averages closed lower for the fourth straight session, the weakness came after the Dow and S&P 500 ended last Wednesday’s trading at record closing highs.

Despite giving back ground over the past few days, the major averages still posted strong gains for the full year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq skyrocketed by 20.4 percent for the year, while the S&P 500 soared by 16.4 percent and the Dow surged by 13.0 percent.

Stocks showed a quick recovery after plummeting in reaction to President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in early April and saw further upside due in large part to strength among big-name tech companies.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped in the week ended December 27th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 199,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 215,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market’s worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 1.9 percent.

Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks amid a slump by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 1.4 percent.

Computer hardware, brokerage, networking and semiconductor stocks also saw notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are falling $0.52 to $56.90 a barrel after sliding $0.53 to $57.42 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after slumping $45.20 to $4,341.10 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $41.40 to $4,382.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 156.87 yen versus the 156.66 yen it fetched on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1719 compared to yesterday’s $1.1745.

Asia

Asian stocks surged in thin holiday trading on Friday after ending 2025 on a subdued note. Regional trading volumes remained light due to holidays in Japan, China and New Zealand.

The dollar made a feeble start to 2026 after suffering its sharpest drop in eight years amid mounting economic uncertainties and rate cut expectations.

Current Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May and President Donald Trump already said he wants to see interest rates go down to 1 percent.

U.S. economic data due next week, including the U.S. payrolls report, may provide additional clues on whether the next Federal Reserve chief would opt for deeper interest rate cuts.

Oil climbed on the first trading day of 2026 after capping its biggest annual drop since 2020. Gold jumped nearly 1.5 percent, extending upward momentum after recording its biggest jump since the 1979 oil crisis in 2025.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index soared 2.8 percent to 26,338.47, buoyed by a strong rally in tech shares.

Seoul stocks rallied to a record high in the first trading session of 2026. The Kospi surged 2.3 percent to 4,309.63 after data showed South Korean exports hit a record high in 2025, driven by a surge in AI-fueled semiconductor demand.

Tech stocks surged on retail buying, with Samsung Electronics spiking 7.2 percent and SK Hynix jumping 4 percent.

The South Korean won held steady around 1,440 per dollar after Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong vowed to guard forex stability.

Australian markets edged up slightly in their first session of 2026. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2 percent to 8,727.80, led by gains in energy and healthcare stocks. The broader All Ordinaries Index settled 0.2percent higher at 9,036.60.

Mining and gold stocks underperformed after Northern Star Resources cut its annual production guidance. Shares of the gold miner plummeted 8.6 percent.

The Aussie dollar held near 14-month highs ahead of monthly inflation data due next week. Earlier in the day, a survey showed growth in Australia’s manufacturing activity slowed in December.

Europe

European stocks have kicked off the first trading session of 2026 on a firm note, with mining and energy stocks leading the way higher.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index is up by 0.6 percent after rallying 17 percent last year in its biggest annual gain since 2021 amid resilient economic growth and the prospect of higher fiscal spending in the region.

The French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent and the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent.

Anglo American, Antofagasta, Glencore and BP Plc all jumped around 2 percent while Shell traded 1.2 percent higher.

Skanska AB shares rose 1 percent. The construction company has signed an additional contract with an existing client to build a data center in USA.

In economic news, euro area manufacturing activity contracted the most since March 2025 with production levels falling for the first time since last February, a survey compiled by S&P Global showed Friday.

The HCOB final manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index declined to 48.8 in December from 49.6 in November. The flash score was 49.2.

The reading fell further below the 50.0 no-change mark indicating a sharper deterioration in factory operating conditions. The reading was the lowest since March 2025.

Earlier today, Nationwide’s data showed that U.K. house prices dropped unexpectedly in December.

U.S. Economic News

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