U.S. stock futures opened little changed on Sunday evening, heading into the shortened Thanksgiving week with all major averages winning for the third straight day.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures fell 5 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 37 points, or 0.2%.
The S&P 500 closed last week up 2.2% and the Dow gained 1.9%, marking the indexes’ first three-week strike since July. The Nasdaq Composite ended the week up 2.4%, its best week since June.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield also ended Friday at its lowest level since Sept. 20, leading some traders to believe U.S. Treasury yields will continue to compete with stocks and become more attractive to investors .
However, market bulls remain enthusiastic heading into the end of the year, especially after weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation data released last week calmed investor jitters about stubbornly high prices and offered a hopeful hint that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates could stop.
“I actually think it’s quite likely that we could hit record highs before the end of the year,” Bill Baruch, founder of Blue Line Futures, said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Friday. “This is one of the healthiest consolidations in recent days.”
Ahead of the shortened Thanksgiving week, traders are awaiting Nvidia’s earnings and future guidance, which will be released on Tuesday. The chipmaker, whose stock has soared this year amid enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, is expected to beat third-quarter profit and revenue estimates, according to analysts polled by FactSet. However, concerns remain about the company’s valuation.
Investors and techies are also unsettled by the sudden ouster of former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Friday and the resignations of other top executives and employees at the Microsoft-backed company, raising broader concerns about the future of the AI industry.
Trading around the Thanksgiving holiday has been choppy in recent years, but November is still the best-performing month for the S&P 500, according to the Stock Traders’ Almanac.