Gold prices are on track for their worst month of the year
Stock futures are on the rise this morning, as investors return from the Thanksgiving holiday. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are up triple digits, as the blue-chip index looks to wrap up its best month since November 2023. The semiconductor sector is in rally mode, pushing futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) higher as well. Meanwhile, gold prices are on track for their worst month this year. As a reminder, the market will close early today, at 1 p.m. ET.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw over 1.6 million call contracts and more than 916,631 put contracts exchanged on Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.55 and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.62.
- Data mining stock SOS Ltd (NYSE:SOS) is up 24.8% premarket, looking to extend Wednesday's 42.9% gain. The company just announced plans to buy $50 billion in Bitcoin (BTC). Should these gains hold, SOS will keep chipping away at its 85.6% year-to-date deficit.
- Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) stock is up 2.5% in electronic trading, as the chip sector bounces on news that the Biden administration's additional barriers on sales of semiconductor equipment to China may not be as severe as anticipated. The equity added 15.7% in the last 12 months.
- Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) stock is up 2.4% before the bell, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) greenlit the creation of a 24-hour stock exchange. The equity has been surging to fresh three-year highs this month, on optimism surrounding the Trump administration’s deregulation plans. HOOD is 195.5% higher this year.
- There's a flood of economic data scheduled for next week.
Asian Markets Move Lower on Economic Data
Asian stocks finished mostly lower today. The Kospi lost nearly 2%, after industrial production fell in October for the second-straight month. Japan’s headline inflation rate rose in November, sending the Nikkei 0.4% lower, while the yen gained against the dollar. China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.9% as home price data looked encouraging, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3%.
Over in Europe, bourses are moving mostly higher after euro zone rose to 2.3% in November, up from 2% in October but on par with estimates. London’s FTSE 100 is 0.2% lower at last check, while the French CAC 40 is up 0.2% and the German DAX sports a 0.4% lead.