Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on January 22, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stock futures were little changed early Thursday with Wall Street on the verge of new record highs.
Futures for the S&P 500 slipped around 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked down 5 points, or less than 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures lost about 0.6%.
The calm moves in futures come after a Wednesday trading session that saw the S&P 500 set an intraday record high on Wednesday. The broad market index finished the day with a gain of 0.61%, just below its record closing high, for a third-straight winning session.
The Nasdaq Composite and Dow also rose on Wednesday, finishing up 1.28% and 0.30%, respectively. Both of those averages are within striking distance of new highs.
The stock market is getting a boost from excitement about potential tax cuts and deregulation under President Donald Trump, as well as signs of resilient economic growth.
The fourth-quarter earnings season is also off to a strong start, with Netflix climbing more than 9% in Wednesday’s trading after reporting a blowout quarter. Reports from GE Aerospace and American Airlines are due out before the opening bell on Thursday.
“Forward earnings estimates continue to make new highs. There’s been a lot of discussion about the elections, and then post-elections and the Fed, and is the economy growing too fast or too slow. One thing that’s been remarkably resilient is forward earnings estimates, and we’re off to a good start as well,” Keith Lerner, co-CIO and chief market strategist at Truist, said on Wednesday’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”
Investors will also get updated readings on the economy Thursday. Initial jobless claims are due out before the opening bell, followed Kansas City Fed manufacturing data later in the day.