U.S. Stock Futures Steady as Markets Close for Christmas
Overview
U.S. stock index futures were largely steady on Wednesday evening, with markets closed for Christmas. Wall Street had seen a rally in megacap stocks a day earlier during a shortened trading session.
The New York Stock Exchange closed early on Tuesday for Christmas Eve, and markets remained closed on Christmas Day, leading to expected thin trading volumes for the week. S&P 500 Futures remained muted at 6,097.50 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures were slightly higher at 22,060.00 points as of 19:00 ET (00:00 GMT). Dow Jones Futures were steady at 43,620.00 points.
Tech Gains Push Wall Street Higher
Tech stocks built on their strong start, particularly the so-called Magnificent 7, which saw significant jumps on Tuesday.
– Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA): up over 7%
– Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL): gained 1.2%
– Other tech giants like Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also experienced gains.
Chip stocks also rose following the Biden administration's launch of a trade investigation into Chinese-made legacy chips, which could lead to additional tariffs and reflects ongoing tensions in the global tech supply chain.
– Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO): jumped over 3%
– Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC): gained 1%.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 climbed 1.1% to 6,040.04 points, the NASDAQ Composite advanced 1.4% to 20,031.13, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% to 43,297.03 points.
Wall Street Recovers from Fed-Induced Slump
Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated fewer-than-expected cuts in 2025, causing sharp declines in all major indexes. The Fed signaled a cautious approach, highlighting the need for continued progress on inflation to consider further rate cuts.
As a result, markets reduced their rate cut expectations following the Fed meeting, anticipating just two more cuts in the coming year. However, after slightly softer-than-expected PCE inflation data, Wall Street gradually recovered, with major stock indexes gaining on Monday and Tuesday and regaining much of the ground lost the previous week.
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