5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens

BTC-USD +5.99% EADSF -0.89%

David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Stock futures are pointing to a weak open after major indexes posted their biggest weekly gains since June last week; bitcoin and crypto-related stocks are tumbling amid the return of risk-off sentiment; Cyber Monday deals are in focus after last week's Black Friday sales kicked off the holiday shopping season; President Donald Trump says he's decided who he will select to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is due to speak later today; and Airbus shares are sliding after the aircraft maker said many of its planes received a surprise software patch over one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Here's what you need to know.

Stocks Pointing Lower After Posting Best Week Since June

Stock futures are losing ground this morning as investors reassess their tolerance for risk after the market posted solid gains during the holiday-shortened trading week. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.5% recently, while those linked to the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.7% and 1%, respectively. The Dow and S&P 500 both gained more than 3% last week, while the Nasdaq surged nearly 5%, as each of the major indexes turned in their best weekly performance since June. After rising in the back half of last week, bitcoin is sinking again, trading around 86,000 and bringing some crypto-related stocks down with it. Gold was up 0.8% at $4,290 an ounce, trading at its highest level in six weeks, while WTI crude oil futures rose more than 1% to $59.20 per barrel. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, was at 4.04%, up from 4.02% on Friday.

Bitcoin, Crypto-Related Stocks Under Pressure

Bitcoin is tumbling as investors' appetite for risk wanes, pulling crypto-related stocks down sharply this morning. Bitcoin was trading at $86,000 recently, down from a high this weekend of above $91,000. Shares of Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, were down more than 5% recently, as were shares of crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN). Bitcoin miners Mara Holdings (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) each dropped more than 6%. The price of bitcoin swung wildly in November, trading above $110,000 early in the month before dropping as low as about $82,000 a few weeks later.

Black Friday Sales Are Out, Cyber Monday Sales Are In

Holiday shoppers will be on the lookout for more deals, as Black Friday sales that have taken place in recent weeks will now give way to online-focused sales for Cyber Monday. One estimate from Salesforce (CRM) projected that spending from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday will hit $78 billion. A recent survey also found that Americans are expecting to spend an average of nearly $3,000 on the holidays this year, and retail sales for November and December are forecast to surpass $1 trillion. Others have found that Americans started shopping early, and expected to spend more time seeking out deals as tariffs make holiday shopping more expensive.

Fed Chair Powell Set to Speak Tonight Amid Rising Hopes of Rate Cut

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak as part of a panel discussion on economic policy Monday evening. Investors have grown increasingly confident that the Fed will cut its benchmark rate next week when the central bank's policy committee meets. Traders are pricing in about an 87% chance of a rate cut this month, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who has been highly critical of Powell, has said he's made his selection for the next Fed Chair. One of Trump's economic advisors, Kevin Hassett, is reportedly considered to be a frontrunner for the job, as he will likely push for lower rates. Powell's term is scheduled to end in May.

Airbus Says Thousands of Planes Received Software Patch

Shares of Airbus are down sharply on their home exchange in Paris as a pair of factors pull the airplane maker lower. The company said that it recently discovered that "intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls" for its A320 family of aircraft, and that most of its 6,000 planes have received the necessary software patch to fix the issue. Also dragging Airbus' stock Monday morning is a report from Reuters, citing industry sources saying a quality issue has been discovered with "several dozen" A320-family aircraft. The issue is delaying delivery of some planes, though there's no indication it's affecting planes currently in service. Airbus did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. airline stocks, including American Airlines (AAL), United Airlines (UAL) and Delta Air Lines (DAL), were losing ground before the opening bell.

Read the original article on Investopedia