British News Agency

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 19 points, or 0.04%. S&P futures and Nasdaq 100 futures also dipped by less than 0.1%.

In the previous session, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended slightly higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just below the flatline. The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted its eighth gain in nine sessions, supported by Meta shares rising 3.4% and Nvidia shares gaining 2.1%.

Investors are closely monitoring various economic data releases ahead of the November jobs report, which is scheduled to be published after the Fed’s December 10 meeting.

Earlier, investors evaluated a report from job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, showing that layoffs surpassed 1 million for the year in November, driven by corporate restructuring, artificial intelligence, and tariffs.

The latest weekly jobless claims released on Thursday showed new applications for unemployment insurance falling to their lowest level since September 2022, although this did not impact market sentiment during the trading session.

Investors hope that signs of a weakening labor market will encourage the Fed to cut interest rates by a quarter point at its next meeting. According to analysts, investors are currently pricing in an 87% chance of a rate cut next Wednesday — significantly higher than just a few weeks ago.

The market will also have new economic data to assess on Friday. The Commerce Department is set to release delayed figures for September consumer spending and income, along with the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index — considered the Fed’s primary gauge of inflation. This will be the first PCE report since the historic U.S. government shutdown. The University of Michigan will also publish its December consumer sentiment survey on Friday.

Stocks have managed modest gains this week, with the S&P 500 up 0.1%, while the Nasdaq and the 30-stock Dow have gained 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.