US stock futures ticked higher on Wednesday, looking to add to a run of wins on the last day of trading before Thanksgiving as Wall Street stays upbeat on an interest-rate cut next month.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) inched up 0.1%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) moved up roughly 0.3%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) added 0.4% following Tuesday’s sharp gains for the major indexes, led by a 660-point jump in the Dow.
Stocks are gearing up for their fourth straight advance after tech names helped buoy the broader market, though an AI trade shift could be underway. Alphabet (GOOG) ended Tuesday at fresh record highs amid signs it is threatening Nvidia’s (NVDA) dominance in AI chips. In premarket, the Google parent is within touching distance of a $4 trillion market cap, up over 1%. Meanwhile, shares in Nvidia slipped after closing over 2.5% lower.
At the same time, investors continue to closely watch for influences on the Federal Reserve’s next policy move, given the US shutdown-driven data drought. The central bank’s Beige Book out Wednesday will shed light on how the US economy is performing region-by-region. It will be scoured for clues to consumer spending and the labor market as the Fed gets ready for its meeting in two weeks.
Markets are pricing in an over 80% probability of a December quarter-point rate cut after delayed September readings on retail sales and wholesale inflation fell short. An update on weekly initial jobless claims is on Wednesday’s docket, expected to show a slight rise.
Meanwhile, palace intrigue at the central bank continues to pick up steam, with five finalists on President Trump’s shortlist to take Chair Jerome Powell’s place next year. Kevin Hassett, the White House’s top economic adviser, has emerged as the frontrunner as the search enters its final weeks.
In a holiday-shortened week, earnings hit their peak on Tuesday, with big-box retailers posting better-than-expected results. Before the bell, Deere & Company (DE) shares slid after its full-year outlook fell short. The farm machinery maker was the biggest name left left on this week’s earnings calendar, with markets shuttered Thursday and finishing at 1 p.m. ET on Friday.
LIVE 9 updates
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
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HSBC sees S&P 500 hitting 7,500 by end of 2026 with ‘more to come’ in the AI trade
Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes in today’s Morning Brief newsletter:
Read more here.
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Deere outlook falls short as farm rebound remains elusive
Deere and Co.’s (DE) stock fell 5% before the bell on Wednesday after its outlook fell short of analysts’ expectations. Uncertainty persists regarding the timing of a recovery in the US farm economy.
Bloomberg News reports:
Read more here.
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Nvidia says it isn’t using ‘circular financing’ schemes. 2 famous short sellers disagree.
Yahoo Finance’s Laura Bratton reports:
Nvidia (NVDA) sent a memo to Wall Street analysts over the weekend arguing that it is not engaged in vendor financing, a controversial practice in which suppliers invest in or extend loans to their own customers.
Famed short sellers Jim Chanos and Michael Burry aren’t so sure.
Nvidia wrote a seven-page document — first reported by Barron’s on Tuesday morning — rebuffing claims that it invests in its own customers to inflate its revenue. The memo was written in response to a newsletter from a little-known Substack author last week claiming that the $5 trillion AI chipmaker is engaged in a “circular financing scheme” — using vendor financing to boost sales — drawing parallels between Nvidia and famous dot-com era accounting frauds committed by Enron and Lucent.
… Chanos, who is famous for predicting the fall of Enron, thinks the comparison between Nvidia and Lucent bears weight.
“They’re [Nvidia is] putting money into money-losing companies in order for those companies to order their chips,” Chanos told Yahoo Finance in an interview.
Read more here.
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Premarket trenders: Alphabet, Workday, and HP
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) stock continued to rise in premarket trading on Wednesday and was up more than 1% following the report that Google is in talks to supply chips to Meta (META).
Workday (WDAY) stock fell more than 5% before the bell on Wednesday after the company reported lukewarm third quarter subscription revenue, a sign of softer demand.
HP (HP) stock fell 5% during premarket trading on Wednesday following the tech company’s news that it will reduce its headcount by 4,000 to 6,000 people. HP also issued a lower-than-expected earnings projection for the new fiscal year.
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HP stock sinks after CEO says it’s cutting thousands of jobs amid AI push
Shares of HP Inc. (HPQ) slid over 5% in premarket trading as Wall Street assessed its quarterly earnings released late Tuesday.
The tech company plans a sweeping AI initiative tied to new restructuring efforts that are expected to eliminate up to 6,000 jobs worldwide and to generate $1 billion in cost savings in coming years.
Yahoo Finance’s Francisco Velasquez reports:
Read more here and watch the full interview with Lores and Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi below.
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Dell stock pops as strong AI demand lifts FY profit guidance
Dell (DELL) shares rose nearly 6% in premarket trading after the company slightly missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates but issued fourth quarter financial guidance above expectations.
The tech hardware giant pointed to surging demand for its AI servers and stronger performance in its infrastructure business.
From Reuters:
Read more here.
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Gold rises on Fed rate-cut and dollar weakness
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
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Alibaba AI arm sees over a third in revenue growth
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
