Stock Futures Inch Lower as Market Continues to Stall

Following back-to-back market losses, stock futures are inching lower this morning, further delaying hopes of a Santa Claus rally. Amid another low volume year-end session, investors are looking to the Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes, due out at 2 p.m. ET, for a catalyst.

Until then, Wall Street is unpacking home price data released this morning; the S&P Case-Shiller home price index rose 1.3% year-over-year in October, above median estimates.  Elsewhere, silver prices are rebounding, last seen up 7%. 

• Trendlines to watch after the S&P 500's recent highs, per Schaeffer's V.P. of Research Todd Salamone. 
• It might be time to buy the dip on Dell stock. 
• Plus, APLD spins off; NEM bounces back; and META's new acquisition. 

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange saw over 1.3 million call contracts and 915,536 put contracts exchanged on Monday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.67, while the 21-day moving average remained at 0.58.
2. Applied Digital Corp (NASDAQ:APLD) stock is up 2.2% premarket, after the company announced plans to spin off its cloud business, combining with Ekso Bionics to create "ChronoScale." Year to date, the AI stock sports a 224.7% lead. 
3. Mining stock Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) is bouncing back from yesterday's 5.6% drop, as silver and gold prices rebound. Up 2.4% in electronic trading, the equity is looking to push back toward Friday's record highs. Since the start of the year, NEM is up 168.2%. 
4. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) is in the spotlight this morning, after news that the Big Tech giant is acquiring Singapore-based AI startup Manus for over $2 billion. The shares are moving quietly, last seen up 0.2%, and carry a 12.5% year-to-date lead heading into today. 
5. Fed meeting minutes and more coming up this week. 

SoftBank Moves Grip Asian Bourses

Asian markets finished mostly lower, as yesterday’s tech-induced selloff on Wall Street influenced sentiment. After news of its plans to acquire DigitalBridge for $4 billion, SoftBank Group pivoted nearly 2% lower. For the session, China’s Shanghai Composite closed flat, South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.2%, Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.4%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the only winner, adding 0.9%.

The European outlook is positive at midday, with both mining and defense stocks bouncing back from Monday’s steep decline. At last check, London’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 are both up 0.5%, while Germany’s DAX sports a 0.7% gain.