Opening Comment — Thursday, January 15, 2026
DJIA: 49,149.63, down 42.36
S&P 500: 6,926.60, down 37.14
NASDAQ: 23,471.75, down 238.12
Stocks higher ahead of jobless claims data
Stock futures are higher Thursday morning ahead of today’s November Import Price Index and weekly jobless claims data. As of 7:19 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.8% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Wednesday as November’s retail sales rose more than expected with solid growth in auto sales and other discretionary items adding to the evidence of a good holiday shopping season. Meanwhile, December’s existing home sales picked up more than projected, and the Producer Price Index (PPI) for November accelerated to 3.0% year-over-year (YOY) on both a headline and core basis. The Dow was down 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.0%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.5% with five of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 2.3%, while the Consumer Discretionary sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.8%.
On the data front, the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of New York’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey for January will be released, with the headline general business conditions index expected to rise to 1.0 from the prior month’s -3.9. The Philadelphia Fed’s Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey will also be released, with the diffusion index for current general activity projected to rise to -1.4 from the prior month’s upwardly revised -8.8. November’s Export and Import Price Indexes will be released today, with the latter expected to come in at -0.2% YOY, along with limited October data following the U.S. government shutdown. Initial jobless claims for the week ending January 10 are expected to rise to 215,000 from the prior week’s 208,000, while continuing claims for the week ending January 3 are forecasted to decline to 1.897 million from the prior week’s 1.914 million.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s November gross domestic product, industrial production, and Index of Services all rose more than expected, while the country’s trade deficit eased slightly from the prior month’s upwardly revised figure. The eurozone’s trade surplus declined in November, and the bloc’s industrial production picked up to 2.5% YOY.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed following the Bank of Korea holding their policy rate at 2.50%. Meanwhile, Japan’s December PPI came in at 2.4% YOY, and the country’s preliminary December machine tool orders rose 10.6% YOY.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher following this week’s U.S. Consumer and Producer Price Index data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 3.3% lower at $59.99/barrel as markets continue monitoring the situation in Iran.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.2% lower at $4,619.08/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.