U.S. equity futures opened little changed on Sunday evening, heading into the shortened Thanksgiving holiday week with all of the major averages coming off of their third straight winning performance.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were down by 5 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were lower by 37 points, or 0.2%.
The S&P 500 closed last week higher by 2.2% and the Dow added 1.9%, marking the first three-week streak for the indexes since July. The Nasdaq Composite finished the week higher by 2.4%, notching its best week since June.
The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury had also ended Friday at its lowest level since Sept. 20, leading some traders to expect that Treasury yields will continue to compete with equities and become more attractive to investors.
Market bulls remain enthusiastic into the year-end, however, particularly after cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation data released last week calmed investors’ nerves about stubbornly high prices and provided a hopeful indication that the Federal Reserve could stop raising interest rates.
“I actually think it’s pretty likely we could see record highs before the end of the year,” Bill Baruch, founder at Blue Line Futures, told CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Friday. “This is one of the most healthy consolidations over the last couple of days.”
Ahead of the Thanksgiving Day-shortened week, traders are awaiting Nvidia’s earnings and forward guidance out Tuesday. The chipmaker, which has since its stock price skyrocket this year amid the craze around artificial intelligence, is expected to beat on earnings and revenue estimates for the third quarter, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Concerns still exist about the company’s valuation, however.
Investors and techies are also rattled by Friday’s sudden ouster of OpenAI’s former CEO Sam Altman and the resignations of other top executives and staff members at the Microsoft-backed company, igniting broader concerns about the future of the AI industry.
Trading around the Thanksgiving holiday has been choppy in recent years, but November is still the best-performing month for the S&P 500, according to the Stock Traders’ Almanac.
