U.S. Stock Index Futures Trends

U.S. stock index futures were marginally lower on Thursday evening, following a largely unchanged close on Wall Street amid low trading volumes during a holiday-shortened week.

S&P 500 Futures dipped 0.1% to 6,090.0 points, and Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.3% to 21,985.75 points by 19:27 ET (00:27 GMT). Dow Jones Futures decreased by 0.1% to 43,668.0 points.

Wall St Muted as Tech Pressured by Higher Treasury Yields

Without significant market cues, investors reacted to a slight rise in U.S. government bond yields, notably the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, which reached 4.64%, its highest since early May.

A strong seven-year note auction in the afternoon alleviated some pressure, bringing the 10-year Treasury yield down to 4.59% by late afternoon. Higher yields attract investments to bonds over equities, leading to a shift away from tech stocks. Increased borrowing costs due to rising yields may limit spending on innovation and growth, affecting profit margins further.

Major tech stocks mostly closed lower, despite some movement; Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) slightly rose after an upgrade from Wedbush. In contrast, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell by 1.8%, while NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) dropped 0.2%. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) and Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) shares also saw declines.

The S&P 500 closed mostly unchanged at 6,037.59 points, with the NASDAQ Composite down 0.1% at 20,020.36 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1% at 43,325.80 points.

Investors Assess U.S. Jobless Claims Data

The Labor Department released weekly U.S. jobless claims data, reporting a decrease of 1,000 in initial applications for state unemployment benefits, resulting in a seasonally adjusted figure of 219,000 for the week ending December 21. This was lower than the anticipated 224,000 claims.

Conversely, those receiving benefits after the first week of aid increased by 46,000, bringing the seasonally adjusted total to 1.910 million as of December 14, the highest since November 2021. Economists had expected this number to be 1.880 million.

These mixed signals reinforce the Fed's cautious approach of maintaining steady rates while closely observing labor market trends.