Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Dow Jones Futures Down As Santa Rally Hopes Fade—Investors Await Initial Jobless Claims Report
U.S. stock futures are in the red early morning on New Year’s Eve, after markets ended lower on Tuesday, as hopes of a year-end Santa Claus rally begin to fade.
Markets are also jittery following President Donald Trump’s latest threats against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Monday, threatening to file a lawsuit over what he called “gross incompetence,” while adding that he “still might” fire him, despite only five months remaining in Powell's term.
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Investors on Wednesday will be closely watching the Initial Jobless Claims report, which is set to be released before markets open at 8:30 AM ET. Markets are scheduled to be closed on Thursday in observance of New Year’s Day.
The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.12%, and the two-year bond was at 3.44%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 82.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in January.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | -0.13% |
| S&P 500 | -0.26% |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.41% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.42% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket on Wednesday. The SPY was down 0.28% at $685.10, while the QQQ declined 0.41% to $616.89, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Stocks In Focus
iSpecimen Inc.
- Shares of biotech company, iSpecimen Inc. (NASDAQ:ISPC) are up 36.95% pre-market, after the company announced a $5.5 million private placement from accredited investors on Tuesday.
- iSpecimen shares have an unfavorable price trend in the short, medium and long terms. Click here for more insights into the stock, the company, and its management.
Anghami Inc.
- Shares of Arab music streaming service Anghami Inc. (NASDAQ:ANGH) are up 56% pre-market, after the company released its six-month earnings on Tuesday, reporting a 97% year-over-year surge in revenue.
- Anghami’s shares have an unfavorable price trend in the short, medium and long terms. Click here for deeper insights into the stock, the business, and its competitors.
Urgent.ly Inc.
- Roadside assistance company, Urgent.ly Inc. (NASDAQ:ULY) surged 52.49% on Tuesday, and another 26.81% pre-market on Wednesday, after the company adjourned its annual stockholder meeting without conducting any business on Monday, with plans to reconvene on Jan. 28, 2026.
- Shares of Urgent.ly have an unfavorable price trend in the short, medium and long terms. Click here to learn more about the stock, the company and its operations.
Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.
- Shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA) are up 19.06% pre-market, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved NEREUS, its oral neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, for the prevention of motion-induced vomiting in adults.
- Vanda’s shares score high on Momentum in Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, with a favorable price trend in the short, medium and long terms. Click here to learn more about this company, its products and finances.
Core AI Holdings Inc.
- AI-based game developer Core AI Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CHAI) surged 2.78% after dropping 5.75% during the regular session on Tuesday, after the company announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to divest Siyata Mobile (SYTA) and its subsidiaries.
- Shares of Core AI Holdings have an unfavorable price trend in the short, medium and long terms. Click here for deeper insights into the stock, its peers and competitors.
Cues From Last Session
Consumer discretionary, materials and financials witnessed the biggest losses on Tuesday, while energy, real estate and utilities bucked the trend and ended the day in the green.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.24% | 23,419.08 |
| S&P 500 | -0.14% | 6,896.24 |
| Dow Jones | -0.20% | 48,367.06 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.76% | 2,500.59 |
Insights From Analysts
As we step into the last trading day of the year, analyst Ryan Detrick, the Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, noted in a post on X, that historically, the sixth year of any President’s administration has been the strongest for equities. “Never lower and up nearly 21% on average.”
While Trump is entering the second year of his second term in office, we’re not sure if this can be counted as his sixth year, given the gap between his two terms.
In an earlier post, Detrick said that if the S&P 500 ended lower on Wednesday, it will end the year on a 4-day losing streak, something he said “has only happened twice in history,” 2024 and 1966. The “good news,” he said, is that the markets ended up higher the following years, gaining 20% in 1967 and 17% in 2025.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Wednesday.
- December’s Initial Jobless Claims report will be released at 8:30 AM ET.
Commodities, Gold, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.38% to hover around $57.72 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar was down 0.35% to hover around $4,324.59 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,550.11 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.15% higher at the 98.380 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading up 0.09% at $88,474 per coin.
Asian markets were mixed on Wednesday, with India’s Nifty 50, SHANGHAI and Thailand’s SETI in the green, while the Hang Seng, Nikkei and South Korea’s KOSPI were in the red. Australia’s ASX 200 and New Zealand’s NZX 50 were flat during the day. European markets are trading mixed in early trade.
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