U.S. stocks looked set to trade in the green on Thursday, a welcome change after investors’ jitters about elevated interest rates and the deficit fueled a selloff over the final weeks of 2024.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 269 points, or 0.6%, ahead of the first trading session of the year. Contracts tied to the S&P 500 climbed 0.7%. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.9%, a sign that tech was leading the rally.
All three indexes racked up triple-digit gains in 2024, but wobbled in December as the market fretted that the Federal Reserve won’t lower interest rates much more with inflation still running clear of its 2% target. Wall Street is also on edge about mounting U.S. debt after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned last week that the government could hit its borrowing limit by mid-January.
