U.S. stock index futures were briefly halted on Thursday after a technical failure hit the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), disrupting several derivatives trading platforms. CME later confirmed the issue was related to a malfunction at a CyrusOne data center and said efforts were underway to restore full operations.
Before the interruption, futures markets were trading slightly higher, with S&P 500 futures up around 0.1%, Nasdaq 100 futures gaining 0.2%, and Dow futures edging up by 0.1%. The outage further dampened already thin trading volumes following the Thanksgiving holiday.
Despite the technical setback, overall investor sentiment remained upbeat, driven largely by rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December. Speculation that Jerome Powell’s successor could take a more dovish policy stance also helped underpin market confidence. Markets are currently pricing in an 82.8% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the Fed’s December 9–10 meeting, a sharp jump from roughly 32% just one week ago.
Technology stocks led the recent rebound; however, Nvidia underperformed after reports suggested that Google may be working on its own artificial intelligence chips, raising concerns about increasing competition in the sector. On Wednesday, all three major U.S. equity benchmarks posted solid gains, with the S&P 500 rising 0.7%, the Nasdaq climbing 0.8%, and the Dow Jones also advancing 0.7%.
On a monthly basis, Wall Street remains under pressure. Even with the latest rebound, both the S&P 500 and the Dow are down around 0.4% for November, while the Nasdaq has declined approximately 2.2% following an earlier tech-led selloff.
Looking ahead, investors will closely monitor next week’s PCE inflation report — the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — along with final PMI data, both of which will be among the last key indicators available before the Fed’s policy decision in December.