Dow futures rise as benchmark nears new 2023 high: Live updates

U.S. stock futures opened higher on Wednesday night as all three major stock indexes prepared to wrap a winning November.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 99 points, or 0.28%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.07% and 0.10%, respectively.

The biggest gainers in Wednesday’s extended trading session included Salesforce, Snowflake and Nutanix, all rising on the back of better-than-expected earnings. Salesforce jumped 8%, while Snowflake and Nutanix added more than 7%.

Although the 30-stock Dow and the S&P 500 ended Wednesday’s trading session near the flatline, the two indexes are only about 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively, from their year-to-date closing highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.16% during the day, but is also roughly 0.7% away from its 2023 closing high.

The major averages remain on track to close November with sizeable gains, which would end a three-month losing streak for the indexes. The S&P 500 is up 8.5% in November, while the Nasdaq has advanced nearly 11%. Both averages are tracking for their best monthly performance since July 2022. The Dow is up 7.2% in November, on pace for its best month since October 2022.

Despite interest rates lingering at higher levels, strategist Jay Woods isn’t afraid that stocks will give up their gains before the year’s end.

“The cycle, to me, is complete. We’ve made back what we lost, and now we’re starting to build on where we were going at the end of 2021 when the market was hot,” the chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets told CNBC. “The price action is positive. The economic data supporting the Fed to continue to keep rates at bay and possibly decrease is a huge tailwind.”

Big Lots, Express and Kroger are set to report earnings Thursday before the bell. Traders will also watch out for October’s reading for personal consumption expenditures, a key inflation gauge for the Federal Reserve. Weekly jobless claims are also due.