Opening Comment — Wednesday, November 26, 2025
DJIA: 47,112.45, up 664.18
S&P 500: 6,765.88, up 60.76
NASDAQ: 23,025.59, up 153.58
Stocks higher ahead of Beige Book
Stock futures are mostly higher Wednesday morning as investors are awaiting today’s economic releases, including unemployment claims, the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) Beige Book survey of regional economic conditions, and September’s preliminary durable goods orders data. As of 7:21 AM ET, the Dow is little changed, while the S&P 500 is up 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.2% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Tuesday as November’s consumer confidence fell significantly following the government shutdown. Retail sales rose less than expected, while both the headline and core Producer Price Index (PPI) rose month-over-month (MOM), reversing from the prior month’s deflation. October pending home sales rose 1.9% MOM, beating expectations. The Dow was up 1.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%. The S&P 500 increased 0.9% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Health Care sector was the top performer, rising 2.2%, while the Energy sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.7%.
On the data front, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s gauge of mortgage applications increased by 0.2% for the week ending November 21 versus the prior week’s decrease of 5.2%. Initial jobless claims for the week ending November 22 are expected to come in at 225,000, higher than the prior week’s 220,000, while continuing claims are expected to fall to 1.96 million for the week ending November 15 from the prior week’s 1.97 million. Meanwhile, the preliminary reading of September’s durable goods orders is forecasted to show a 0.5% MOM increase, compared to the prior month’s 2.9% increase. The Market News International Chicago purchasing managers’ index for November is expected to come in at 43.6, down from the prior month’s 43.8. The Department of Energy’s measure of crude oil inventories is expected to have decreased by 2.36 million barrels for the week ending November 21 versus the prior week’s decrease of 3.43 million barrels.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as investors awaiting preliminary Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from around the region, set for release on Friday.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as Japan’s Services PPI decelerated to 2.7% year-over-year (YOY) in October from the prior month’s revised 3.1%. Australia’s October CPI was largely unchanged MOM but accelerated to 3.8% YOY. South Korea’s retail sales rose 6.7% YOY in October.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of today’s U.S. unemployment claims data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.1% higher at $58.03/barrel ahead of an expected decline in reported crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.9% higher at $4,167.07/ounce despite a strengthening U.S. dollar.