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 flat on Wednesday evening with Wall Street on the verge of new record highs.
Futures for the S&P 500 dipped less than 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures ticked up 6 points, or less than 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures were off by about 0.1%.
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 boost from excitement about potential tax cuts and deregulation under President Donald Trump and signs of resilient economic growth.
The fourth-quarter earnings season is also off to a strong start, with Netflix climbing more than 9% on Wednesday after reporting a blowout quarter. Alaska Air and Knight-Swift Transportation were both higher in after hours trading after earnings beats. 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.
