Opening Comment — Thursday, December 11, 2025
DJIA: 48,057.75, up 497.46
S&P 500: 6,886.68, up 46.17
NASDAQ: 23,654.15, up 77.66
Stocks lower ahead of jobless claims data
Stock futures are mostly lower Thursday morning ahead of today’s trade balance and unemployment claims data. As of 7:16 AM ET, the Dow is little changed, while the S&P 500 is down 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.6% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Wednesday following the Federal Reserve (Fed) cutting the federal funds rate by 25 basis points (0.25%) to a target range of 3.50%–3.75%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, “conditions in the labor market appear to be gradually cooling, and inflation remains somewhat elevated”. Meanwhile, the federal budget deficit came in slightly lower-than-expected for November. The Dow was up 1.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3%. The S&P 500 increased 0.7% with nine of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Industrials sector was the top performer, rising 1.8%, while the Utilities sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.1%.
On the data front, initial jobless claims for the week ending December 6 are expected to come in at 220,000, higher than the prior week’s 191,000, while continuing claims are expected to remain stable at 1.94 million for the week ending November 29. The U.S. trade deficit is expected to widen in September to $63.1 billion from the prior month’s $59.6 billion. The finalized September reading of wholesale inventories is expected to show an increase of 0.1% month-over-month (MOM), while wholesale trade sales are expected to come in at 0.4% MOM versus the prior month’s increase of 0.1%.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as investors are awaiting tomorrow’s release of finalized Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from around the region.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Australian employment unexpectedly declined in November, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3% and the labor force participation rate declined slightly to 66.7%.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is lower as markets reprice their expectations for future Fed rate cuts.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.3% lower at $57.71/barrel following the U.S. seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker yesterday, escalating tensions between the two nations.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.4% lower at $4,212.23/ounce despite a weakening dollar.