Today marks a shortened Black Friday trading session on US exchanges, opening at the usual 9:30 a.m. ET but closing early at 1:00 p.m. ET. With no major economic data releases or corporate earnings scheduled, expect light trading volume and potentially subdued volatility. This follows a holiday week where markets rebounded modestly mid-week on renewed Federal Reserve rate cut expectations, but remain on track for November losses amid concerns over AI valuations and broader economic uncertainty.
Markets now price in an 85% chance of a 25-basis-point cut at the December meeting. This stems from dovish signals from Fed officials like John Williams, amid delayed economic data from the recent government shutdown. The US 10-year Treasury yield dipped below 4% (lowest in nearly a month), supporting equities by easing borrowing costs. But in the very short term US markets should pullback, this means the FTSE 100 could also pullback.