Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Set to Open Down; Boeing, Nvidia, Tesla, More Movers; Treasury Yields Ease

Investors are still fretting that the Federal Reserve won’t cut interest rates by as much as they were hoping in 2025, with inflation still running clear of the central bank’s 2% target.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also gave markets a sobering reminder about the deficit on Friday. She said the government will hit its borrowing limit next month, which would trigger the use of “extraordinary measures” to stop a U.S. default.

While “2024’s gains [are] pretty much in the bag,” Yellen’s debt ceiling warning and upcoming economic reports “may keep traders on edge as the year comes to an end,” Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Brintzman said.

Monthly home sales, house price, and construction spending data are all set to be released this week, and on Thursday the Labor Department will report initial unemployment claims for the week ended Dec. 28.

Oil prices were sliding as traders waited on economic data out of China that could give a sense of how the world’s largest importer is holding up. The Brent international benchmark was down 0.2% to $73.67 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate U.S. prices fell 0.2% to $70.48 a barrel.