U.S. stock futures rose on the first trading day of the year on Friday after missing the Santa Claus rally over the truncated week. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.
The Santa Claus trading period, which began on Dec. 24 last week, did not materialize as the S&P 500 declined for the fourth straight session, despite recording gains for 2025.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.15%, and the two-year bond was at 3.46%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 85.1% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in January.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.37% |
| S&P 500 | 0.62% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 1.08% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.75% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.69% at $686.61, while the QQQ advanced 1.12% to $621.18, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Stocks In Focus
Baidu
- Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) shares jumped 12.20% in premarket on Friday after the company announced its proposed spinoff and separate listing of the H shares of Kunlunxin (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
- It maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms with a poor quality ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
Rubico
- Rubico Inc. (NASDAQ:RUBI) surged 16.82% after the company announced that it entered into a purchase agreement for the acquisition from Top Ships of a vessel-owning company, which is party to a shipbuilding contract for a newbuilding mega yacht.
- RUBI maintains a stronger price trend over the short term but a weak trend in the medium and long terms. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
Outlook Therapeutics
- Outlook Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:OTLK) tumbled 56.52% in premarket after the company disclosed that the FDA has issued a complete response letter to the ONS-5010/LYTENAVA biologics license application resubmission, indicating that the FDA cannot approve the application in its present form for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that OTLK maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms. Additional performance details are available here.
Intelligent Bio Solutions
- Intelligent Bio Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:INBS) dropped 23.40% as the company announced a $10.0 million private placement priced at the market under Nasdaq rules.
- INBS maintains a weaker price trend over the medium and long terms but a strong trend in the short term. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
ChowChow Cloud International
- ChowChow Cloud International HLDG Ltd. (NYSE:CHOW) advanced 80.89% after the company announced said first half 2025 revenue jumped 81.3% year-over-year to $22.8 million and net income climbed 80% to $1.6 million.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings shows that CHOW maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long term. Additional information is available here.
Cues From Last Session
Real estate, industrials, and materials stocks recorded the biggest losses on Wednesday, as all S&P 500 sectors closed on a negative note.
U.S. stocks settled lower, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 300 points and the S&P 500 declining for the fourth straight session, despite recording gains for 2025.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.76% | 23.241,99 |
| S&P 500 | -0.74% | 6.845,50 |
| Dow Jones | -0.63% | 48.063,29 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.75% | 2.481,91 |
Insights From Analysts
After a record-breaking 2025 that saw the S&P 500 hit multiple all-time highs, the U.S. stock market faces a cooling period in 2026.
Jay Woods, Chief Market Strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, predicts a shift from recent explosive growth to modest single-digit gains of 3% to 5%, targeting an S&P 500 range around 7,250.
Woods suggests the market’s positive momentum will persist, but decelerate significantly. “I think the bull run continues, but the stampede is not going to be there,” he observed.
He warns that the year ahead will be difficult to price due to rising uncertainties, including tariff impacts, midterm elections, and pivotal changes at the Federal Reserve.
A major point of friction may be the central bank’s independence following Jerome Powell’s tenure.
Woods anticipates internal conflict, stating, “I suspect we’ll have more dissensions from this new Fed,” and predicts a struggle where “Fed policy meets Washington rhetoric.”
With the Fed unlikely to meet aggressive political demands for rate cuts, investors should prepare for a year defined by volatility rather than easy victories.
See Also: How to Trade Futures
Upcoming Economic Data
No data is scheduled to be released on Friday.
Commodities, Gold, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.40% to hover around $57.19 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar rose 1.75% to hover around $4,386.32 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,550.11 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.07% higher at the 98.3890 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 1.83% higher at $89,330.12 per coin.
Asian markets closed higher on Friday, except China’s CSI 300 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, South Korea’s Kospi, Australia’s ASX 200, and India’s Nifty 50 rose. European markets were higher in early trade.
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