U.S. stock futures are slightly lower in premarket trading as Wall Street prepares to close out another bullish year for equities.

Stocks are headed for their fourth-straight losing session, although the declines have been minimal and the S&P 500 (SPX) is still set to lock in a 17% gain for the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 (NDX) is up 21% this year, the Dow index ($DJI) is higher by over 13% in 2025 while the small-cap Russell 2000 (RUT) jumped 12%.

Investor focus will be on year-end positioning along with Jobless Claims data. Markets are closed on Thursday for the New Year holiday.

Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)

• Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are up 0.5% near $58.20 a barrel, supported by geopolitical risk and short term supply concerns, but are still set to post the sharpest annual drop since 2020 (-19%), thanks to a looming supply glut. U.S. pressure on Venezuela, Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine and lingering instability in the Middle East have helped support. However, even if OPEC+ producers confirms the planned pause in output hikes at the upcoming meeting - as widely expected - global markets are still heading for a substantial supply overhang as non-OPEC supply continues to strengthen.
• Gold (/GC) – Gold futures are down 1.5% near $4320 in premarket trading but have rallied 63% in 2025 and hit all-time highs just last Friday. Precious metals slipped across ‍the board on Wednesday, but ‍were on course for ‍blockbuster annual gains, as silver and platinum prices more than doubled and gold’s run of record highs led to its strongest yearly performance in more than 40 years.
• Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is up 1.2% near 89,400 in premarket trading.
• VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index was up nearly 1% on Tuesday and settled at 14.33 as stocks were slightly lower.
• U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is flat at 97.9.

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

1. Nike (NKE): +2.63%
2. Intel (INTC): +1.31%
3. Tesla (TSLA): +0.49%
4. Nvidia (NVDA): +0.34%
5. Exxon Mobil (XOM): +0.28%

1. Host Hotels & Resort (HST): -1.69%
2. Newmont (NEM): -1.51%
3. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD): -0.83%
4. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX): -0.80%
5. GE Vernova (GEV): -0.55%

Economic Data

• 8:30 AM ET: Jobless Claims
• 10:30 AM ET: Oil Inventories
• 12:00 PM ET: Natural Gas Inventories

Notable Earnings

• Premarket: None
• Postmarket: None
• Premarket Tomorrow: None
• Postmarket Tomorrow: None

Upgrades/Downgrades

• Keefe Bruyette upgrades TeraWulf (WULF) to Outperform from Market Perform
• Wedbush downgrades GlobalFoundries (GFS) to Neutral from Outperform

This material is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered a personalized recommendation or investment advice. Investors should review investment strategies for their own particular situations before making any decisions.

Schwab Network is brought to you by Charles Schwab Media Productions Company (“CSMPC”). CSMPC is a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation and is not a financial advisor, registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, or futures commission merchant.

Charles Schwab Media Productions Company and all third parties mentioned are separate and unaffiliated, and are not responsible for one another's policies, services or opinions.

Data contained herein is obtained from what are considered reliable sources. However, its accuracy, completeness, or reliability cannot be guaranteed. All events and times listed are subject to change without notice.