Opening Comment — Thursday, December 18, 2025
DJIA: 47,885.97, down 228.29
S&P 500: 6,721.43, down 78.83
NASDAQ: 22,693.32, down 418.14
Stocks higher ahead of CPI data
Stock futures are higher Thursday morning ahead of today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for November and the latest unemployment claims data. As of 7:16 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.9% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Wednesday as Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller stated yesterday that the U.S. central bank has the leeway to gradually continue reducing rates, with the current policy range “50 to 100 basis points off of neutral.” The Dow was down 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.8%. The S&P 500 decreased 1.2% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 2.2%, while the Information Technology sector was the bottom performer, falling 2.2%.
On the data front, initial jobless claims for the week ending December 13 are expected to come in at 225,000, lower than the prior week’s 236,000, while continuing claims are expected to rise to 1.92 million for the week ending December 6 from the prior week’s 1.84 million. The headline and core CPI for November are expected to show price increases of 3.1% year-over-year (YOY) and 3.0% YOY, respectively. The Philadelphia Fed will release their December Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey, with the diffusion index of current general activity forecasted to rise to 2.3 from the prior month’s negative 1.7. The Kansas City Fed will release their Manufacturing Survey for December, with the composite index expected to come in at 6, down from the prior month’s 8.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading following the Bank of England voting 5-4 to reduce their policy rate by 25 basis points (0.25%) to 3.75%. Sweden’s Riksbank and Norway’s Norges Bank both left rates unchanged, and the European Central Bank is expected to hold their policy rate steady at 2.00% later this morning. Meanwhile, France’s manufacturing confidence rose in December.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Australian consumer inflation expectations rose to 4.7% for December, up from the prior month’s 4.5%.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is higher amid today’s central bank meetings and ahead of today’s U.S. CPI and unemployment claims reports.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is little changed at $55.92/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.3% lower at $4,325.00/ounce following a strengthening dollar.