Wall St set for higher open in countdown to Trump presidency

Published 2025/01/17, 13:14
Updated 2025/01/17, 16:35
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. flag hangs on the building of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump won the presidential election, in New York City, U.S., November 6, 2024. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

(Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes were on track to open higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow looking set to log their biggest weekly gains since November, as investors anticipate a wave of policy changes under the incoming Trump administration.

At 08:31 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 243 points, or 0.56%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 39.25 points, or 0.66%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 220.25 points, or 1.04%.

Better-than-expected earnings from major banks and signs that inflation is cooling have prompted risk-taking on Wall Street this week, putting the benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow on track for their steepest weekly rises since the U.S. election week.

The S&P 500 banking index and regional banks have outperformed the main indexes this week, logging advances of about 5.8% and 6.4%, respectively.

A dip in yields on longer-dated bonds that had touched more than 10-month highs earlier in the week also boosted the sentiment. Yield on the benchmark 10-year note is now at a more than one-week low of 4.57%. [US/]

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take over the White House on Monday and investors will be on edge for any insights into his plans on tax cuts, tariffs, regulations and immigration at his inauguration speech.

The S&P 500 has gained nearly 3% to date since Election Day, while the dollar has jumped about 5%.

However, there are also concerns that his plans on tariffs and immigration could spark a trade war and fresh price pressures, which could force the Federal Reserve to stave off further monetary policy easing.

"On our math, (a stronger dollar) could cut first-quarter earnings growth by about 1.5 percentage points," analysts at UBS said.

"However, we believe that part of the strong dollar risks have already been priced in and that the tariff impact is unlikely to be strong enough to derail healthy earnings growth."

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said inflation remains a problem, as recent data has pointed to a resilient economy.

According to data compiled by LSEG, traders are expecting the central bank to leave interest rates on hold at its meeting later this month and see the first cut coming in June. They had all but priced out any rate cuts for 2025 earlier in the week.

Before markets open, investors will assess data on industrial production for the month of December that could help gauge the health of the world's largest economy.

Eyes are also on developments around a ceasefire deal in the Middle East conflict, with the Israeli cabinet due to give final approval, following concerns the accord may be delayed.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) gained 1.5% and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) rose 2% after Barclays (LON:BARC) raised its price targets on the stocks.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. flag hangs on the building of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump won the presidential election, in New York City, U.S., November 6, 2024. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

SLB rose 2.2% after the oilfield services provider beat estimates for fourth-quarter profit, benefiting from higher demand for its drilling equipment and technology in North America and international markets.

Truist Financial rose 2.6% after reporting a rise in fourth-quarter profit as it earned more in interest payments.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.