(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose ahead of a truncated trading session on Friday, with Wall Street’s main indexes on track for monthly gains as the holiday shopping season began with a bang and investors’ attention focused on retail stocks.
Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower on Wednesday, the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, after data showed signs of persistent inflation, reinforcing bets that the Federal Reserve could remain cautious on rate cuts. of interest in 2025.
Investors will closely monitor stocks of retailers expected to attract millions of shoppers with their deep Black Friday discounts, as customers begin their year-end holiday shopping.
The National Retail Federation, an American trade group, expects about 85.6 million shoppers to visit stores this year, up from 76 million on Black Friday 2023.
Target shares rose 0.8%, TJX rose 0.6%, Walmart rose 0.5% and Nike added 0.4% in premarket trading.
“This mega promotional event is a double-edged sword for retailers. It causes such a shopping mania for good deals that around three-quarters of people will postpone spending before the event,” said Susannah Streeter, director of money and markets. at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“During the promotional period, it also means selling at a discount… (which) means a lower profit margin at a time when they are under pressure from rising staff costs.”
As of 05:35 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 159 points, or 0.35%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 17.75 points, or 0.30%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis they rose 79.5 points, or 0.39%.
Futures tracking the Russell 2000 small-cap index rose 0.9%.
Major indexes were on track to post monthly gains, with the benchmark S&P index heading for its biggest monthly gain since February. An index that tracks small caps hit a record high earlier in the week and was on track for its biggest monthly gain in nearly a year.
President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election earlier this month, along with his Republican Party’s control of both houses of Congress, provided the latest boost for stocks.
Investors were pricing in expectations that Trump’s policies on tax cuts, tariffs and deregulation could spur economic growth and corporate performance. However, concerns remain that his proposals could stoke upward pressures on prices, slow the pace of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy easing and affect 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.