Opening Comment — Wednesday, December 17, 2025
DJIA: 48,114.26, down 302.30
S&P 500: 6,800.26, down 16.25
NASDAQ: 23,111.46, up 54.05
Stocks higher following labor market update
Stock futures are higher Wednesday morning as investors continue digesting yesterday’s labor market data and look ahead to tomorrow’s November Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. As of 7:18 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.4% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Tuesday as November’s non-farm payrolls increased by 64,000 following a 105,000 decline in October driven by the federal government deferred resignations. Meanwhile, the November unemployment rate rose to 4.6% as the labor force participation rate picked up to 62.5%. S&P Global’s preliminary December readings for both the manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs) fell more than expected but remained in expansionary territory. The Dow was down 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.2% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Information Technology sector was the top performer, rising 0.3%, while the Energy sector was the bottom performer, falling 3.0%.
On the data front, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s gauge of mortgage applications decreased by 3.8% for the week ending December 12 versus the prior week’s increase of 4.8%. The Department of Energy’s measure of crude oil inventories is expected to have decreased by 2.05 million barrels for the week ending December 12 versus the prior week’s decrease of 1.81 million barrels.
Across the pond, European stocks are mixed in mid-day trading as the U.K.’s CPI posted a 0.2% month-over-month (MOM) decline in November, while headline and core inflation both eased to 3.2% year-over-year. The British Retail Price Index registered deflation of 0.4% MOM against expectations of little change in November. Germany’s Ifo Business Climate Index unexpectedly declined in December, falling to 87.6.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as the Westpac Leading Index for Australia fell slightly in November. Japan posted a stronger-than-expected trade surplus for November, following a smaller-than-projected increase in imports and a larger-than-anticipated increase in exports. Meanwhile, the country’s core machine orders for October registered an unexpected increase, rising by 7.0% MOM.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is higher ahead of a series of central bank meetings this week, with the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Norwegian Norges Bank, and the Swedish Riksbank convening tomorrow, followed by the Bank of Japan on Friday.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 2.2% higher at $56.48/barrel following an announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday that the U.S. will be blockading sanctioned oil tankers from Venezuela, preventing entering or leaving.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.3% higher at $4,315.92/ounce despite a strengthening U.S. dollar.