Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures steady as Wall Street cements in rate-cut hopes

US stock futures were in a holding pattern on Thursday as Wall Street waited for data to test baked-in expectations that the Federal Reserve will deliver a December rate cut.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) nudged up 0.1%. Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) were also little changed on the heels of small closing gains for stocks more broadly on Wednesday.

A softer-than-expected ADP reading on private payrolls fueled hopes that the Fed may shift toward easing at its policy meeting next week. Traders are pricing in an 89% probability of a rate cut, per CME FedWatch. Further clues to the state of the labor market will come later Thursday, with updates on weekly initial jobless claims and Challenger job cuts.

With earnings season in its final stretch, Salesforce (CRM) shares popped after the business software maker posted a raised outlook that both topped analyst expectations. Meanwhile, Snowflake (SNOW) stock tumbled over 8% after the AI data cloud provider’s revenue guidance fell short, even as it deepened its partnership with Anthropic (ANTH.PVT).

Results from retailers Dollar General (DG) and Kroger (KR) could shed light on the resilience of the consumer, while Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) earnings are also on the docket on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 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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