Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock exchange during morning trading on November 10, 2023 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Stock futures flickered near the flat line Wednesday night, following a three-day run of losses for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Futures tied to the 30-stock Dow slipped 9 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.01%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.04%.
In after-hours trading, online pet products retailer Chewy slumped 9% after the company issued a weak forecast for fourth quarter net sales. GameStop shed 3% after it reported lower net sales compared to the year-ago period.
The moves follow another losing session for the major averages in another signal that the late-2023 rally may be fizzling out. The Dow and the S&P 500 closed lower for the third straight day, losing 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite also dropped about 0.6%. The three major indexes remain poised to finish the fourth quarter and calendar year higher.
“I think you’re still going to see some choppiness in terms of leadership,” Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”
“One of the reasons why it’s been so difficult for the growth trade to relinquish its leadership is that expectations for economic growth are still sluggish,” she added.
Investors have key data releases to mull over. Private payrolls data issued on Wednesday showed that employers added 103,000 positions in November, coming in below expectations.
The question is whether subsequent data releases this week will show a similar cooling trend: On Thursday, weekly jobless claims are due before the opening bell. November nonfarm payrolls, along with wage data and the unemployment rate, will be out on Friday morning.
In the way of earnings, Dollar General will post quarterly results before the bell Thursday. Lululemon and Broadcom are slated to report after the close.