Opening Comment — Tuesday, December 30, 2025
DJIA: 48,461.93, down 249.04
S&P 500: 6,905.74, down 24.20
NASDAQ: 23,474.35, down 118.75
Stocks flat before FOMC minutes
Stock futures are little changed Tuesday morning as investors are awaiting the release of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) minutes from the December 10 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. As of 7:14 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both little changed. The Nasdaq 100 is also little changed relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Monday as pending home sales for November registered a stronger-than-expected growth of 3.3% month-over-month (MOM), alongside an unexpected year-over-year (YOY) decrease of 0.3%. The Dow was down 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also fell 0.5%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.4% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 1.0%, while the Materials sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.0%.
On the data front, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s House Price Index is expected to show an increase of 0.1% MOM in October, versus the prior month’s little change. The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index for October is expected to register an increase of 0.10% MOM and an increase of 1.10% YOY, versus the prior month’s increases of 0.13% and 1.36%, respectively. The Market News International Chicago purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for December is expected to come in at 40.0, up from the prior month’s 36.3. The Dallas Fed will release their Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey for December, with the general business activity index expected to come in at negative 4.6, down from the prior month’s negative 2.3.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as investors await finalized December manufacturing PMIs, due Friday.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly lower as South Korea’s November industrial production posted a weaker-than-expected 0.6% MOM increase and declined by 1.4% YOY, contrary to expectations. The Cyclical Leading Index for South Korea rose in November. The country’s Composite Business Sentiment Indexes for both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors increased.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed ahead of today’s release of minutes from the December 10 FOMC meeting.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.3% higher at $58.28/barrel despite an unexpected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.2% higher at $4,383.79/ounce.