US Stocks To Edge Lower After Thanksgiving As Investors Await Data: Analyst Expects A Santa Rally Thanks

U.S. stock futures slid and Dollar Index rose in the premarket trading on Monday. This week the global economy and markets will be dominated by data and remarks from central bankers.

The Dollar Index strengthened over 0.5% and was hovering around the 106.27 level. Expectations of a further 25 basis point rate cut in December fell to 61.7%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Futures	Performance (+/-)
Nasdaq 100	-0.20%
S&P 500	-0.18%
Dow Jones	-0.13%
R2K	0.02%

In premarket trading on Monday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was down 0.19% to $601.41 and the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NYSE:QQQ) fell 0.17% to $508.85, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From The Last Session

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 reaching new records during the shortened trading week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also gained ground, driven by a 2% surge in Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares. The broader semiconductor sector, as measured by the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SOXX), rose 1.3%.

For the week, the Dow climbed 1.4% and the S&P 500 added 1.1%. These gains marked their strongest monthly performances of the year, with the Dow up 7.5% and the S&P 500 up over 5% in November.

Most sectors on the S&P 500 ended the day in positive territory, with tech, materials, and consumer discretionary stocks leading the way. However, real estate and utilities lagged.

Here’s a recap of Friday’s closing numbers:

Index	Performance (+/-)	Value
Nasdaq Composite	0.83%	19,218.17
S&P 500	0.56%	6,032.38
Dow Jones	0.42%	44,910.65
Russell 2000	0.35%	2,434.73

Insights From Analysts:

Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities predicted a strong year-end rally for technology companies as artificial intelligence initiatives accelerate and regulatory pressures ease under President-elect Donald Trump.

He said that Trump’s term could potentially end Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan‘s aggressive oversight of Big Tech companies. The forecast comes amid projections of unprecedented AI-related spending reaching $1 trillion by the end of 2025.

Veteran investor Mark Mobius said that he isn’t worried about a tech bubble, even with high valuations for giants like Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia. He sees their impressive growth rates as justification for the price tags and expects continued success from the ‘magnificent seven’ stocks.

Renowned economist Mohamed El-Erian highlighted the impressive performance of cryptocurrencies and equities in November, contrasting it with losses in the gold and oil markets.

The Allianz Chief Economic Advisor shared a visual on X, showcasing the year-to-date performance of major asset classes. A standout performer was Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, which experienced its strongest month of the year in November.

Bitcoin’s year-to-date gains surged past 127% by the end of November, a significant acceleration from the 64% recorded in October. This remarkable surge has already surpassed Bitcoin’s annual gains for both 2021 and 2022.

Erian further highlighted the hoards of economic data that are slated to be released his week.

Upcoming Economic Data

This week’s economic calendar is packed after a short last week due to Thanksgiving.

On Monday, the S&P final U.S. manufacturing PMI for November will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
The ISM manufacturing data for November and construction spending data for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
On Tuesday, job openings data for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET and auto sales data will be released for which the time is yet to be determined.
On Wednesday, November’s data on ADP employment will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET.
St. Louis Fed President Musalem will speak at 8:45 a.m. ET.
The S&P final U.S. services PMI for November will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
The ISM services and factory orders data for November and October, respectively, will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Fed Beige Book will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET.
On Thursday, initial jobless claims data for November and U.S. trade deficit data for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
On Friday, the U.S. employment report, U.S. unemployment rate, and U.S. hourly wages data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The preliminary data for consumer sentiment will be released at 10 a.m. ET.
Chicago Fed President Goolsbee will speak at 10:30 a.m., ET.
Consumer credit data will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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Stocks In Focus:

Vision Marine Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:VMAR) was up by 39% to $3.05 per share in premarket trading after it partnered with Massimo Marine to produce a 30-foot electric pontoon platform designed for commercial and recreational markets.
Unusual Machines Inc. (NYSE:UMAC) was up 16% to $21.75 apiece as it continued to ride on the news flow about Donald Trump Jr. joining the advisory board to support U.S. drone manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign parts.
Joby Aviation Inc. (NYSE:JOBY) was up 5.5% to $9.45 per share after Intech Investment Management LLC acquired 102,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000, as per an SEC filing.
Primega Group Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ:PGHL) fell 5.8% to $2.24 per share despite clearing the payment required under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5900 Series.
Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR) was up 5.2% to $10.07 apiece as it has signed an agreement with Soracle, a joint venture of Japan Airlines and global general trading company Sumitomo, to sell up to 100 Midnight aircraft, totaling approximately $500 million.

Commodities, Bonds And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures rose in the early New York session, advancing 0.91% to hover around $68.677.

The 10-year Treasury note yielding 4.21%, whereas the two-year note was yielding 4.20%.

Major Asian markets closed higher on Monday, except for South Korea’s Kospi Index. European markets were mixed as both FTSE 100 and CAC 40 Indices declined.

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