Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures are up 18 points and are trading 0.3% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 49 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 123 points and are trading 0.3% above fair value.

The trade deficit widened to $78.2 billion in November (Briefing.com consensus -$77.9 billion) from an upwardly revised $73.6 billion (from -$73.8 billion) in October. The widening was the result of exports being $7.1 billion more than October exports and imports being $11.6 billion more than October imports.

The key takeaway from the report is that the import surge likely reflects a bid to get ahead of President-elect Trump's tariff plans, meaning businesses might have more inventory than usual waiting to be utilized/sold that detracts from import demand in coming months (i.e., post-inauguration).