Brett LoGiurato · Front Page Editor
US stock futures pointed to a downbeat open Friday, as Wall Street
looked to be slogging to the finish of a largely triumphant year.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) were down 0.3%, while those on the
tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F)
lost 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) also lost 0.3%. Meanwhile, the 10-year
Treasury yield (^TNX)
hovered near seven-month highs around 4.6%.
Wall Street has just three trading days remaining in a 2024 full of big
gains and is hoping to resume a "Santa Claus" rally into the end of the year. The
benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) is up more than 26% on the year, while the
Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC)
is up over 30%. The blue-chip Dow (^DJI) has risen a more modest 14%.
Markets
have largely digested the year's remaining key economic data points, and
investors are now turning their attention to two big themes for the
coming year: the Federal Reserve's path for interest rates and the
implications of Donald Trump's ascent back to the White House.
On the former, stocks have largely taken in stride the Fed's plans to
scale back rate cuts next year after an initial plunge last week. Bets
have now shifted squarely to May as the next meeting at which the Fed
will slash interest rates, as it continues to grapple with stubborn inflation while
keeping a close eye on a cooling labor market.
And on the latter, Yahoo Finance's Ben Werschkul writes that while
Trump talked up his big plans during the campaign, especially on the
economy, those plans could soon face a reality check from other key
power players.
