In premarket hours, U.S. stock futures faced a decline as traders processed new cabinet appointments by President-elect Donald Trump. A plethora of data is anticipated to be released today, aiming to offer a clearer view of the direction interest rates are heading.

Unraveling the Pre-Market Stock Trends

Stock Futures and Their Movements

The futures for the three major U.S. indices showed a downward trend. The S&P 500 futures dropped by 0.16%, while the Dow Jones futures declined by 0.06%. However, the broader small-cap index Russell 200 futures was trading higher during this period. Additionally, the U.S. Dollar Index neared the 106.5 level. The two-year and 10-year U.S. Treasuries also slipped to 4.21% and 4.26% respectively. According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, the expectations of a further 25 basis point rate cut in December rose to just 66.3%.In premarket trading on Wednesday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was down 0.09% to $600.07, and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ fell 0.27% to $507.96, as per Benzinga Pro data.

Cues from the Last Session

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones closed higher by around 124 points, reaching 44,860.31. The S&P 500 rose 0.57% to 6,021.63, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.63% to close at 19,175.58. Both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 surged to new record levels during the session. Most sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a positive note, with utilities, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest gains. Nevertheless, energy and materials stocks defied the overall market trend and closed lower.In terms of economic data, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index rose 4.6% year-over-year in September compared to an 5.2% increase in August. Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. dipped by 17.3% to an annualized rate of 610,000 in October.

Index Performance and Values

The Nasdaq Composite showed a performance of 0.63% and closed at 19,175.58. The S&P 500 had a 0.57% increase and closed at 6,021.63. The Dow Jones rose 0.28% and closed at 44,860.31. The Russell 2000, on the other hand, declined by 0.73% and closed at 2,424.31.Also read: Dow, S&P 500 Settle At Record Highs, Best Buy Reports Weaker Than Expected Earnings: Fear Index Remains In ‘Greed’ Zone

Insights from Analysts

Comparing the average performance per day of the S&P 500 Index from 1950 to 2023, Ryan Detrick, CMT and chief market strategist at Carson Group LLC stated in an X (formerly Twitter) post that “now is one of the stronger times of the year for stocks.” The chart he shared showed that the average returns on the index from November 23 to November 30 have been consecutively positive over the last 73 years.Speaking about Tuesday’s cross-asset volatility, Mark Newton, CMT, Managing Director and global head of technical strategy at Fundstrat Global Advisors LLC said that the markets “got the long-awaited 10-year Treasury and U.S. Dollar rollover while Crude and Precious metals all fell more than 3% today.” He added that “despite a +0.91% equal-weighted $SPX advance today (Tuesday), some might have felt like the market “got killed” Not quite, but important to pay close attention given the Cross-asset Volatility that kicked in today.”

Upcoming Economic Data

Here are the key events scheduled for Wednesday. Initial jobless claims, advanced durable goods orders, U.S. trade balance, retail and wholesale inventories, and the first revision of GDP will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago Business Barometer (PMI) will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Nominal personal income and spending data will be released at 10 a.m. ET. PCE index and pending home sales data will also be released at 10 a.m. ET.

Stocks to Watch

Crowdstrike Holdings Inc CRWD dropped over 6% in premarket after reporting a GAAP loss of $16.8 million in the third quarter, compared to a $26.7 million income in the third quarter of fiscal 2024. The loss from operations as per GAAP standards was $55.7 million, compared to an income of $3.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2024.Dell Technologies Inc DELL declined 13.22% in premarket as the third-quarter revenue came in at $24.37 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $24.65 billion.HP Inc HPQ dipped 10% in pre-market trading. HP reported in-line earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales topped estimates.Rigetti Computing, Inc RGTI jumped over 11% in pre-market trading after dipping 20% on Tuesday. The company announced a registered direct offering of 50 million shares at $2 per unit.HWH International Inc HWH rose 100% in premarket after Alset Inc. bought 4,411,764 of its shares for a total of approximately $2.99 million. It was priced at 0.68 each, according to SEC filing.

Commodities, Gold and Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures rose in the early New York session, advancing 0.25% to hover around $68.96. The Gold spot rose 1% to 2,673.01 per ounce. Japanese and Korean markets fell on Tuesday, while Chinese, Australian, Indian and Hong Kong markets ended in green. Most European markets declined.Image Created Using MidjourneyMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.