US stocks looked set to trade in the green on Thursday, a welcome change after investor jitters over high interest rates and deficits fueled a sell-off during the final weeks of 2024.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 354 points, or 0.8%, ahead of the first trading session of the year. Contracts linked to the S&P 500 rose 1.0%. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.2%, a sign that technology was leading the rally.
All three indexes racked up triple-digit gains in 2024, but faltered in December as the market worried that the Federal Reserve would not lower interest rates much further while inflation was still moving away from its 2% target. Wall Street is also nervous about rising U.S. debt after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned last week that the government could reach its borrowing limit by mid-January.