U.S. stock futures are relatively flat ahead of the Wall Street open as traders grow more optimistic of a rate cut next week by the Fed.

Yesterday’s weak ADP private payrolls data came in below expectations at -32K, which helped push stocks modestly higher on Wednesday. The data signaled that the Federal Reserve will be more inclined to cut interest rates at its upcoming Dec. 10 meeting.

Investors are watching earnings today with Salesforce (CRM) up modestly while Snowflake (SNOW) are down sharply post earnings. Traders will also focus on more employment data this morning with Challenger Job Cuts and Jobless Claims due ahead of the opening bell.

Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)

• Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are up 0.6% near $59.30 a barrel after Russia said talks with U.S. officials in Moscow failed to reach a compromise on a potential Ukraine peace deal that could have eased sanctions on its oil sector.
• Gold (/GC) – Gold is down 0.3% near $4220, taking a cautious stance ahead of next week’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, while looking to upcoming data for clearer signals on the central bank’s interest rate path.
• Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is flat near 93,300 in premarket trading after rallying over 3% over the last 5 sessions.
• VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index fell 3.1% on Wednesday and settled at 16.08 as stocks rose.
• U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is flat at 98.8.

Biggest Premarket Movers (Mark % Change as of 7 AM ET)

1. Dollar General (DG): +5.56%
2. Hormel Foods (HRL): +4.04%
3. Salesforce (CRM): +1.63%

1. Lennar (LEN): -1.60%
2. Costco (COST): -1.33%
3. PayPal (PYPL): -1.03%

Economic Data

• 7:30 AM ET: Challenger Job Cuts
• 8:30 AM ET: Intl. Trade in Goods, Jobless Claims
• 10:00 AM ET: Factory Orders - Delayed
• 10:30 AM ET: Natural Gas Inventories
• 12:00 PM ET: Fed’s Bowman Speaks
• 4:30 PM ET: Fed Balance Sheet

Notable Earnings

• Premarket: BMO, BF/B, DOOO, DG, DCI, DLTH, GCO, HRL, HOV, KR, SAIC, TD
• Postmarket: CHPT, COO, DOCU, HPE, LE, RBRK, IOT, S, TTAN, SPWH, SFIX, ULTA, ZUMZ
• Premarket Tomorrow: VSCO
• Postmarket Tomorrow: None

Upgrades/Downgrades

• Arete upgrades Meta Platforms (META) to Buy from Neutral
• JPMorgan upgrades Toll Brothers (TOL) to Overweight from Neutral
• JPMorgan upgrades Toast (TOST) to Overweight from Neutral
• JPMorgan downgrades PayPal (PYPL) to Neutral from Overweight
• JPMorgan downgrades Lennar (LEN) to Underweight from Neutral
• JPMorgan downgrades Fiserv (FISV) to Neural from Overweight

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