Opening Comment — Wednesday, December 10, 2025
DJIA: 47,560.29, down 179.03
S&P 500: 6,840.51, down 6.00
NASDAQ: 23,576.49, up 30.59
Stocks lower ahead of Fed meeting
Stock futures are lower Wednesday morning ahead of today’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, with futures markets widely expecting the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut its policy rate by 25 basis points (0.25%). As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both decreasing 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.2% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Tuesday as job openings unexpectedly rose more than forecasted in September and October. Meanwhile, small business optimism increased in November, and the leading index declined in September. The Dow was down 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.1% with five of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 0.7%, while the Health Care sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.0%.
On the data front, the Mortgage Banker Association’s gauge of mortgage applications increased by 4.8% for the week ending December 5 versus the prior week’s decrease of 1.4%. The U.S. deficit for November is expected to narrow to $195.0 billion from the prior month’s $366.8 billion. The third-quarter Employment Cost Index is projected to rise 0.9% quarter-over-quarter, similar to the prior quarter. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy’s measure of crude oil inventories is expected to have decreased by 1.3 million barrels for the week ending December 5 versus the prior week’s increase of 574,000 barrels.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors House Price Balance, which measures the sentiment of surveyors regarding house prices, fell by 21% in November.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as South Korea’s unemployment rate ticked up to 2.7% in November. Japan’s November Producer Price Index (PPI) increased 0.3% month-over-month and 2.7% year-over-year (YOY), both in line with expectations. Meanwhile, China’s PPI showed further deflation in November, with prices falling by 2.2% YOY. The country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) posted an increase of 0.7% YOY.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly lower ahead of today’s Fed meeting.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.6% higher at $58.59/barrel following an expected decline in U.S. crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.3% lower at $4,196.59/ounce despite a weakening dollar.