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Wall Street Futures Climb on Fed Cut Hopes as Bitcoin Extends Steep Decline

US markets staged a rebound Friday morning, with futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all moving higher after a turbulent week. The rally was fueled by growing bets that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates at its upcoming December meeting, following dovish comments from New York Fed President John Williams. His remarks shifted sentiment sharply, with nearly 70% of traders now expecting a rate cut. Dow futures gained 0.7% , leading the advance. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5% , while Nasdaq futures added 0.4% . The optimism comes after Thursday’s sharp sell-off, underscoring the volatility gripping markets as investors weigh AI-driven risks and Fed policy divisions. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies continued to struggle. Bitcoin plunged to around $82,000 , marking its worst month since the 2022 crypto collapse. The decline reflects heavy institutional outflows, miner sell-offs, and broader risk-off sentiment across digital assets.

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Stock Market Edges Higher Ahead of Christmas Break

                                          

US stocks looked set for a mostly muted open to a final, shortened trading session before the Christmas holiday. Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) were up 0.1%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) rose 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) hugged the flatline.

Wall Street is looking to enter its Christmas break rejuvenated, after tech stocks including AI chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) led the march higher on Monday. Markets close at 1 p.m. ET today and are off tomorrow for Christmas Day. Sizable gains on Friday and Monday have put the indexes back on the path toward their record highs, from which they took a Fed-fueled nosedive last week.

Wall Street is reassessing the path of interest rates next year as it grapples with the reality that the Fed mostly pulled off a so-called soft landing – but couldn’t fully shake the US economy’s inflation problem. According to the CME FedWatch tool, most bets are on two coming holds at the Fed’s January and March meetings, followed by a toss-up in May.

Meanwhile, many eyes continue to be trained on Nvidia, which saw a more than 3.5% gain on Monday. As Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley writes, 2024 was Nvidia’s year, with the stock up some 180%. But 2025 could contain plenty of challenges.



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