U.S. stock futures traded in a muted fashion Friday, as investors took a breath after a stellar November, ahead of comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
By 06:25 ET (11:25 GMT), the Dow Jones Futures contract was up 40 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures traded 2 points, or 0.1%, higher, while Nasdaq 100 Futures dropped 7 points, or 0.1%.
The main Wall Street indices posted strong gains last month, largely on hopes that the Federal Reserve’s tightening cycle may be over. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite registered their biggest monthly percentage increases since July 2022, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to its best month since October 2022.
Powell set to speak
Further evidence of cooling U.S. inflation came in the form of the eagerly awaited personal consumption expenditures price index, which rose 3% in October from a year ago, according to data released on Thursday, falling from 3.4% the previous month.
This index is widely seen as the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, and although the reading was still above the Fed’s 2% target, the trajectory is clearly lower.
Investors will pay close attention to comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who is slated to participate in two separate discussions on Friday, as they seek clues of the central bank’s rate outlook going into the new year.
Construction spending for October and ISM Manufacturing data for November are also on deck.
Disney reinstates its dividend
In corporate news, earnings reports are due from Dominion Energy (NYSE:D), Gartner (NYSE:IT) and Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) are due for release Friday.
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) will also be in the spotlight after the entertainment giant reinstated its dividend, while Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA) soared premarket after releasing strong quarterly results.
Additionally, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has revealed a starting price of nearly $61,000 for its highly-anticipated Cybertruck, as the electric carmaker started deliveries of the science-fiction-inspired pickup.
Oil gains ahead of OPEC+ decision
Oil prices edged higher Friday, bouncing after the previous session’s sharp losses as the voluntary oil output cuts agreed by OPEC+ producers fell short of expectations.
By 06:25 ET, the U.S. crude futures traded 0.1% higher at $75.87 a barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.2% to $80.71 a barrel. Both contracts lost over 6% each in November.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed to a voluntary output reduction of 900,000 barrels per day in addition to extending 1.3 million barrels per day in production cuts already in place.
While the new cuts are still set to negate a crude oil surplus in the first quarter of 2024, supplies will be less tight than initially anticipated.
Additionally, gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,041.60/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.0898.
