Stock futures are little changed after S&P 500 posts best day since November: Live updates

view original post

U.S. stock futures rose modestly Wednesday night after the S&P 500 posted its best day since November, on the back of a tame inflation report and blowout bank results. Traders are also looking ahead to more big bank earnings.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 82 points, or about 0.2%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each gained nearly 0.2%.

In the regular session, the 30-stock Dow surged more than 700 points, or 1.65%, while the S&P 500 rallied 1.83%. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, advancing 2.45%. The small-cap Russell 2000 gained about 2%. A moderate improvement in core inflation in December’s consumer price index and strong earnings from big banks spurred a risk-on rally.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield pulled back sharply from a 14-month high reached earlier in the week. It last hovered around 4.65%.

Tech stocks popped in regular trading, as did more speculative parts of the market. Tesla and Nvidia spiked 8% and 3%, respectively. Bitcoin briefly topped $100,000 during the session.

“The bond market was starting to price in the risk of further hikes, and so you get this slightly softer-than-expected inflation data, which allows you to have this big relief rally, mostly in the interest rate sensitive parts of the market,” Cameron Dawson, NewEdge Wealth’s chief investment officer, said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”

“Doesn’t mean that we’re necessarily out of the woods for things like small caps, in the volatility that they’ve been experiencing,” she added. “But the sigh of relief is welcome.”

Wall Street will glean more insight into the state of the economy Thursday. The December retail sales report is expected to show a 0.5% increase, down from a 0.7% rise the previous month, according to a Dow Jones consensus estimate. Weekly jobless claims are also due.

Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are set to report earnings Thursday, wrapping up reports from the big banks.

Elsewhere, Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary, will sit down before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Thursday morning, a hearing investors will parse for clues into tariffs and other policies from the incoming administration.

JPMorgan Chase should see multiple expansion ahead, Tom Lee says

JPMorgan Chase could be primed for even more growth ahead, according to Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.

“JPMorgan is one of the best-executing banks,” the firm’s head of research said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday. “The company spends a huge amount of money on technology, so I actually think JPMorgan should see its multiple expand.”

His remarks come after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter. The stock rose about 2% during Wednesday’s session following those results.

On top of that, Lee believes there’s a multi-year period in store for banks in general where they’ll perform “very well.”

“This is a risk-on environment with animal spirits coming back and capital markets picking up, so it should be good for all banks,” he added.

— Sean Conlon

December retail sales data due out Thursday

The December retail sales report due out Thursday is expected to show a 0.5% increase, down from a 0.7% rise the previous month, according to a Dow Jones consensus estimate.

Excluding autos, it’s expected to have risen 0.4% last month, up from a 0.2% gain in the prior reading.

The data is set to release 8:30 a.m. ET.

— Sarah Min

Stock futures open little changed

U.S. stock futures opened little changed Wednesday night.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 21 points, or 0.05%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.01%, while Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.04%.

— Sarah Min

Also on CNBC