Opening Comment — Monday, December 15, 2025
DJIA: 48,458.05, down 245.96
S&P 500: 6,827.41, down 73.59
NASDAQ: 23,195.17, down 398.69
Stocks higher to start off week
Stock futures are higher Monday morning ahead of today’s December Empire State Manufacturing Survey and homebuilder sentiment. Investors are also looking ahead to tomorrow’s November jobs report and preliminary December purchasing managers’ indexes. As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.4%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 is also increasing 0.5% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Friday as the President of the Chicago Federal Reserve (Fed) cautioned against the central bank making additional interest rate cuts in 2026 amid high inflation concerns and a cooling labor market. The Dow was down 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7%. The S&P 500 decreased 1.1% with six of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Consumer Staples sector was the top performer, rising 0.9%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 2.9%.
On the data front, the New York Fed will release December’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey, with the headline general business conditions index expected to come in at 10.0, down from the prior month’s 18.7. Meanwhile, the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index is forecasted to increase slightly in December to 39 from the prior reading of 38.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as Rightmove’s measure of British house prices for December decreased by 1.8% month-over-month (MOM) and 0.6% year-over-year (YOY). Meanwhile, the eurozone’s industrial production for October registered increases of 0.8% MOM and 2.0% YOY.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly lower as Japan’s fourth-quarter Tankan report showed sentiment at large manufacturers and large non-manufacturers ticking up and remaining steady, respectively. The country’s Tertiary (services) Industry Index showed an increase of 0.9% MOM in October. China’s retail sales registered a smaller-than-expected increase of 1.3% YOY in November, while the country’s industrial production grew 4.8% YOY, less-than-forecasted.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly lower ahead of Thursday’s policy decisions from central banks in Europe and Friday’s Bank of Japan meeting.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.6% lower at $57.12/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.0% higher at $4,342.75/ounce following a weakening dollar.