Stocks Gain Pre-Bell as Fed Rate Cut Hopes Rise; Traders Await Key Economic Data

07:29 AM EST, 11/24/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The benchmark US stock measures were trending higher before the opening bell Monday amid renewed hopes for a potential interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month, while traders await some key delayed economic reports later in the holiday-shortened week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq gained 0.5% in premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly in the green. The indexes finished Friday's trading session higher. US markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Policymakers can afford to further reduce interest rates to support a weakening labor market, New York Fed President John Williams said Friday. Last week, delayed government data showed the US economy added more jobs than projected in September, though the unemployment rate hit the highest level since 2021.

"I view monetary policy as being modestly restrictive, although somewhat less so than before our recent actions," Williams said. "Therefore, I still see room for a further adjustment in the near term to the target range for the federal funds rate to move the stance of policy closer to the range of neutral, thereby maintaining the balance between the achievement of our two goals."

The probability that the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee will lower rates by 25 basis points in December stood at 76% on Monday, with the remaining odds in favor of a no-change scenario, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

However, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said Friday that she's "not certain" if there's room for further monetary policy easing, following two back-to-back cuts already delivered this year.

US Treasury yields were down in premarket action, with the two-year rate retreating 0.9 basis points to 3.51% and the 10-year rate off 1.7 basis points to 4.05%.

September reports for producer prices and retail sales are due on Tuesday, while the durable goods orders report for the same month is scheduled for a Wednesday release. The data were delayed from their original release dates due to the record-long federal government shutdown, which ended earlier this month.

Monday's economic calendar has the delayed Chicago Fed national activity index for October at 8:30 am ET, followed by the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey for November at 10:30 am.

President Donald Trump's administration is working on a contingency plan in case the Supreme Court rules against his tariff policy, Bloomberg News reported Sunday. The Supreme Court began hearing arguments earlier this month on whether Trump exceeded his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose sweeping tariffs.

Agilent Technologies (A) , Keysight Technologies (KEYS) and Zoom Communications (ZM) are expected to report their latest financial results after the markets close on Monday.

Alibaba Group (BABA) , Analog Devices (ADI) , Dell Technologies (DELL) , Workday (WDAY), Zscaler (ZS) , HP (HPQ), Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), Best Buy (BBY) and Deere (DE) are scheduled to post their earnings later this week.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 0.4% to $57.85 a barrel before the open. Gold slipped 0.4% to $4,064 per troy ounce, while bitcoin dropped 1.7% to $86,002.

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