Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures indicate mixed open; what investors need to know before Wall Street opens

US equity futures indicate a mixed opening on Thursday, November 5, as Wall Street investors focused on the rebound in global crude oil prices due to reports of tankers on fire at the Strait of Hormuz and a continued selloff in tech and AI stocks in the Asian markets.

Investors were also focused on the steady US Treasury yields and the subdued performance potential after a massive rally during the previous market session.

Data showed that Dow Jones futures were trading 0.63% higher at around 53,827 points, indicating a potential for positive performance during the trading window after a massive rally during the previous market session.

S&P 500 index futures were trading 0.23% higher at 7,736.50 points ahead of the opening bell on Thursday, while, in contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.50%, hovering around 28,428 points.

After witnessing a pullback, US Treasury yields were steady at 4.89% on Thursday’s market, with investors powering the demand for the safe-haven asset amid the upcoming US jobless data release in focus.

Stocks like Monster Beverage Corp., Canadian Natural Resources, Airbnb, Cloudflare, ConocoPhillips, Sony Group Corp., Cummins, Atlassian Corp., Rockwell Automation, among others will be in focus of investors on November 5 as the firms will announce their September quarter earnings.

Oil prices decline 11%

Crude oil prices corrected 11% to hit a low of $93.50 per barrel (bbl) during the trading session on Thursday, November 5, from the intraday high levels of $104.96 per bbl on Wednesday’s market.

The sharp pullback in oil prices comes as the US midterm elections turned in favour of the Democratic Party, which increased near-term potential of the US Congress negotiating a peace deal to end the West Asia conflict.

As of 6:06 pm (IST), the Brent crude oil prices (January futures) were trading 2.3% higher at $96.82 per bbl on November 5, in comparison to $94.62 per bbl at the previous commodity market close, according to Investing.com data.

The rise in crude oil prices after the massive correction comes as reports suggest that three vessels caught on fire in the Strait of Hormuz, after allegedly trying to pass the key maritime way using an “unauthorised route.”

Asian markets today

Asian markets were trading on a mixed note as the Japanese and Korean markets continued to witness selling pressure due to the winding down of AI trade among global equities.

MarketWatch data showed that Nikkei 225 closed 1.79% lower, while South Korea’s KOSPI ended 5.28% lower after the trading session on Thursday’s market.

In contrast, the Hang Seng ended 3.6% higher, the Shanghai Composite closed 0.10% higher, India’s SENSEX ended 2.6% higher, and Singapore’s FTSE closed 0.52% higher on November 5.

How did US markets end on Wednesday?

US stock market indices rallied on Wednesday, November 4, as investors were focused on a sharp pullback in crude oil prices and the potential for a near-term end to the West Asia conflict as Democrats took control of the US Congress at the US midterm election results.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to end 3.03% higher at 53,356.12 points as of the stock market close on Wednesday, in comparison to 51,786.72 points at the previous equity market close, according to data collected from the MarketWatch website.

The S&P 500 index surged to close 1.58% higher at 7,688.62 points after Wednesday’s trading session, compared to 7,568.91 points at the previous US stock market close.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 also witnessed some intraday volatility and a rally, the index ended with modest gains, up 0.91% to close at 28,437.17 points on November 4, in contrast to 28,180.26 points at the previous Wall Street session, as per the exchange data.