Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Set to Open Up; Dow Futures Fall; DJT, Micron, Nvidia, Tesla, Tilray; BOJ Raises Rates

Stocks looked set to rise on Friday, with investors now confident the Federal Reserve will have scope to cut interest rates in 2026 following a sharp pullback in November inflation.

Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average were broadly flat, S&P 500 futures climbed 0.2%, and contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 0.3%.

The Dow and S&P 500 each snapped four-day losing streaks on Thursday, after the delayed November consumer-price index showed there had been a surprise slowdown in inflation last month, which traders took as a sign that the Fed will be able to lower rates next year. Blowout earnings from memory-chip maker Micron also helped to ease some worries about lofty artificial-intelligence valuations.

Investors don’t appear too fazed for now by the Bank of Japan raising interest rates late Thursday. Policymakers in Tokyo hiked borrowing costs to a 30-year high, which some investors believe could unravel the so-called carry trade–in which investors borrow Japanese yen as a cheap, low-risk, source of cash, then invest it in higher-yielding U.S. Treasuries or other assets.

“I’ve been an equity bull since May, and remain one now,” Michael Brown, strategist at the foreign-exchange brokerage Pepperstone, said. “The fundamental case for further upside is still solid, with earnings growth robust, the economy resilient, the monetary backdrop growing looser, and a calmer tone continuing to prevail on the trade front.”

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed 2 basis points to 4.15% on Friday. The dollar was up 0.2% against a weighted basket of its peers, and gold futures slipped 0.3% to $4,354 an ounce. Large-cap cryptocurrency Bitcoin rose 1.1% over the past 24 hours, to $87,968.