U.S. stock futures traded higher on Monday morning as many investors prepared for the holiday-shortened week. The market is set to close early on Tuesday for Christmas Eve and will be closed on Christmas Day. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and the S&P 500 (SPX) were up 0.64%, 0.2%, and 0.38%, respectively, at 3:15 a.m. EST, December 23.
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The optimistic market sentiment is supported by a cooler-than-expected inflation report, released on Friday, which helped ease concerns about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path. On Friday, the Dow Jones gained 1.2%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were up 1.1% and 1%, respectively.
On the corporate front, Apple (AAPL) disclosed plans to increase its investment in Indonesia to $1 billion. This move comes after Indonesia banned the sale of the iPhone 16 due to the company’s failure to meet local content requirements.
Looking ahead, investors will be closely monitoring key economic data releases, including December’s Consumer Confidence Index, due today. Also, the Durable Goods Orders and New Home Sales Change reports for November are slated for release this week.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year treasury yield was up, floating near 4.536% at the time of writing. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures are trending higher, hovering near $69.71 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European indices opened lower on Monday morning with trading activity expected to be light ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Mixed on Monday
Asia-Pacific indices traded mixed today as investors assessed the positive U.S. inflation data. Also, the Japan stock market led the gains as traders awaited the official announcement about the merger of Japanese automakers Honda Motor (JP:7267) and Nissan Motor (JP:7201).
At the same time, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.79%. Further, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices gained 1.19% and 0.92%, respectively. However, China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices fell 0.5% and 1.03%, respectively.
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