US stock futures were a mixed bag Wednesday evening as Wall Street built on expectations that the Federal Reserve would deliver a December rate cut.
Contracts linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) inched up about 0.1%. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) hovered just below the flatline, while Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) ticked 0.1% lower.
The moves followed a broad bump higher during the regular session. Softer-than-expected ADP private-payrolls data showed a drop in November hiring, which helped push the Dow (^DJI) ahead by more than 400 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) posted more modest gains.
The weaker labor reading fueled hopes that the Fed may shift toward easing at its policy meeting next week. Futures markets now assign an 89% probability of a rate cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
In extended trading following earnings results, Salesforce (CRM) jumped as much as 5% after issuing revenue outlook that topped analyst expectations. Discount retailer Five Below (FIVE) added around 2% following a strong quarterly report. Despite announcing a partnership with Anthropic, Snowflake (SNOW) stock plunged over 7% after the AI data cloud provider reported earnings losses.
As Q3 earnings reports reach the end of the season, HP (HP), Dollar General (DG), and DocuSign (DOCU) highlight the releases for Thursday.
Investors are also monitoring potential changes to tariff policy. The Supreme Court is still in the process of deciding whether Trump acted legally in his use of emergency powers to enact his most sweeping duties.
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