Opening Comment — Thursday, September 25, 2025
DJIA: 46,121.28, down 171.50
S&P 500: 6,637.97, down 18.95
NASDAQ: 22,497.86, down 75.61
Stocks lower ahead of GDP data
Stock futures are lower Thursday morning as investors are awaiting key data releases, including the third reading of second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), August’s durable goods orders, and an update on jobless claims. Investors will also be listening in to a slew of Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers scheduled for today. As of 7:18 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.4% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Wednesday as new home sales increased significantly, rising by 20.5% month-over-month (MOM) to an annualized rate of 800,000 in August after the prior month’s data was revised higher. The Dow was down 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.3% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 1.2%, while the Materials sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.6%.
On the data front, the third readings of second-quarter GDP, the GDP Price Index, the core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, and personal consumption are expected to come in at annualized growth rates of 3.3%, 2.0%, 2.5% and 1.7%, respectively. The advance goods trade balance for August is expected to show a deficit of $95.4 billion versus the prior month’s revised deficit of $102.8 billion. The preliminary August reading of wholesale inventories is expected to show an increase of 0.1% MOM, similar to the prior month’s increase. Meanwhile, the preliminary reading of August’s durable goods orders is forecasted to show a 0.3% MOM decline, compared to the prior month’s 2.8% decrease. Initial jobless claims for the week ending September 20 are expected to come in at 233,000, higher than the prior week’s 231,000, while continuing claims are expected to rise slightly to 1.93 million for the week ending September 13 from the prior week’s 1.92 million. Existing home sales are forecasted to have been at an annualized 3.95 million pace in August versus the prior month’s 4.01 million pace, corresponding to a decrease of 1.5% versus the prior month’s increase of 2.0%.
Across the pond, European stocks are lower in mid-day trading as the eurozone’s M3 (a broad measure of the money supply) for August expanded by 2.9%, falling short of projections. Meanwhile, France’s consumer confidence remained steady and Germany’s consumer confidence improved.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Japan’s August Producer Price Index for services accelerated from the prior month’s downwardly revised pace.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is slightly lower ahead of today’s major U.S. data releases.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.8% lower at $64.48/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.6% higher at $3,757.76/ounce following a weakening dollar.