(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose ahead of a shortened trading session on Friday, with Wall Street’s major indexes on track for monthly gains as the holiday shopping season got off to a brisk start and investor attention shifted to retail stocks.
Wall Street’s major indexes closed lower on Wednesday, the eve of Thanksgiving, after data showed signs of persistent inflation, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve could remain cautious about rate cuts in 2025.
Investors will be keeping a close eye on the stocks of retailers, which are expected to attract millions of shoppers with their steep Black Friday discounts as customers begin their year-end shopping.
The National Retail Federation, a U.S. trade group, expects about 85.6 million shoppers will visit stores this year, up from 76 million on Black Friday in 2023.
Shares of Target rose 0.8%, TJX climbed 0.6%, Walmart rose 0.5% and Nike added 0.4% in premarket trading.
“This mega-promotional event is a mixed blessing for retailers. It is causing such a shopping mania in the search for a good deal that around three-quarters of people will actually postpone their spending in the run-up to the event,” said Susannah Streeter, head of the company. of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“During the promotional period it also means selling at a discount… (which) means a smaller profit margin at a time when they are under pressure from rising staff costs.”
At 5:35 a.m. ET, the Dow E-minis were up 159 points, or 0.35%, the S&P 500 E-minis were up 17.75 points, or 0.30%, and the Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 79.5 points, or 0.39%.
Futures tracking the small-cap Russell 2000 index rose 0.9%.
The major indexes were on track for monthly gains, while the benchmark S&P was set to post its biggest one-month gain since February. An index that tracks small-cap companies hit a record high earlier this week and was poised for its steepest monthly rise in nearly a year.
Newly elected President Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election earlier this month, along with his Republican Party controlling both houses of Congress, provided the latest boost to stocks.
Investors factored in expectations that Trump’s policies on tax cuts, tariffs and deregulation could boost economic growth and business performance. However, there are concerns that his proposals could fuel upward price pressure, slow the pace of the Fed’s monetary policy easing and dampen global growth.
Traders expect the central bank to cut borrowing costs by 25 basis points at its December meeting, but see the Fed pausing rate cuts in January and March, according to CME Group’s FedWatch.
