Stock Market Update

Due to data center cooling issues, equity index futures have been halted until further notice. Equity futures pointed to a slightly higher open before the disruption against a quiet news backdrop following the Thanksgiving holiday. 

CME Globex Futures & Options markets will Pre-open at 07:00 Central Time and Open at 07:30 Central Time. All day orders and GTDs with today's date will be cancelled. All GTCs that have been acknowledged will remain working.

Stocks have performed well during the holiday-shortened week, with the major averages all up over 2.5% week-to-date amid reinvigorated expectations for a December rate cut. 

In corporate news:

• Airports are experiencing holiday travel disruptions. 31 million passengers will fly during the holiday, according to Bloomberg.
• OpenAI data partners have $100 billion in debt, according to Financial Times.
• Chinese companies are training their artificial intelligence models to access NVIDIA (NVDA 180.83, +0.57, +0.3%) chips, according to Financial Times. 

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region ended the week on a mixed note. Japan's Nikkei: +0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -0.3%, China's Shanghai Composite: +0.3%, India's Sensex: UNCH, South Korea's Kospi: -1.5%, Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: +0.1%.

In news:

• Japan's Tokyo Core CPI remained elevated at 2.8% yr/yr in the November reading while the market expected a slight deceleration. Still, a Bank of Japan policymakers said that underlying inflation remains below the 2.0% target.
• South Korea's Industrial Production was down 4.0% in October against expectations for a much smaller decrease. Officials blamed base effects, as chip fabrication fell after jumping sharply in September.
• Japan's Ministry of Finance said that primary dealers want to see more issuance of 2-, 5-, and 10-yr JGBs and a reduced supply of ultra long JGBs.

In economic data:

• Japan's November Tokyo CPI 2.7% yr/yr, as expected (last 2.8%) and Tokyo Core CPI 2.8% yr/yr (expected 2.7%; last 2.8%). October Retail Sales 1.7% yr/yr (expected 0.8%; last 0.2%), October Industrial Production 1.4% m/m (expected -0.5%; last 2.6%), and October Unemployment Rate 2.6% (expected 2.5%; last 2.6%). October jobs/applications ratio 1.18 (expected 1.20; last 1.20). October Housing Starts 3.2% yr/yr (expected -5.0%; last -7.3%) and Construction Orders -10.1% yr/yr (last 34.7%)
• South Korea's October Industrial Production -4.0% m/m (expected -0.2%; last -1.1%); -8.1% yr/yr (last 11.9%). October Retail Sales 3.5% m/m (last -0.1%) and October Service Sector Output -0.6% m/m (last 2.0%)
• India's Q2 GDP 8.2% yr/yr (expected 7.3%; last 7.8%)
• Australia's October Private Sector Credit 0.7% m/m (expected 0.6%; last 0.6%) and Housing Credit 0.6% m/m (last 0.6%)

Major European indices trade near their flat lines amid some shakiness in sentiment resulting from an overnight halt in futures trading at the CME due to a cooling failure. STOXX Europe 600: +0.1% (+2.4% week-to-date) Germany's DAX: +0.2%, U.K.'s FTSE 100: +0.2%, France's CAC 40: +0.2%, Italy's FTSE MIB: UNCH, Spain's IBEX 35: -0.1%.