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Briefing.com Summary:
*There is little conviction ahead of the open on what will be a full day of trading for the U.S. market.
*NVIDIA and Groq have entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement.
*Although it is cold this time of year in many places, the metals trade continues to run hot.
The stock market was closed yesterday for the Christmas holiday, and if one didn't know any better, you'd think the stock market was still closed today. That isn't the case.
European markets were closed for Boxing Day, and several markets in the Asia-Pacific region were closed today, but the U.S. stock market (sigh) is open for a full day of trading today.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are down one point and are trading in line with fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 17 points and are trading 0.1% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 48 points and are trading fractionally below fair value.
The lack of conviction in the equity futures trade sums things up well. There isn't a lot of interest in the stock market today. Trading desks are staffed with skeleton crews, participants normally doing their bidding in the stock market are doing their bidding elsewhere, and federal offices are observing today's closure by executive order.
CNBC, which always does a great job of covering business news, is allotting excess time this morning to weather updates, perhaps because the Northeast, where it is headquartered, is due to get hit with a snowstorm that is expected to snarl air traffic.
That is a top business story today given the headache it will cause not only for travelers but also for the airlines that are supposed to be doing the flying.
Other top stories include NVIDIA (NVDA) and Groq entering into a non-exclusive inference technology licensing agreement to accelerate AI inference at a global scale, and Digitimes reporting that Adv. Micro Devices (AMD) secured a major Alibaba (BABA) chip order to compete with NVIDIA.
What do you know? Even on a super slow morning for corporate news, the AI trade continues to permeate the market's psyche. That holds true as well for the metals trade. Silver futures are up 4.5% to $74.81/toz; copper futures are up 3.1% to $5.75/lb; and gold futures are up 1.1% to $4,551.50/toz.
In other developments, the U.S. is stepping up its efforts to seize the Bella 1 oil tanker, according to The Wall Street Journal; China imposed sanctions on U.S. defense companies after President Trump decided to sell weapons to Taiwan, according to Reuters; and Ukrainian President Zelensky is planning to meet with President Trump soon regarding a peace plan, according to Bloomberg.
The Treasury market is also open for a full day of trading today. Currently, the 2-yr note yield is down four basis points to 3.47%, and the 10-yr note yield is down two basis points to 4.12%.
