U.S. markets are pointing lower before the opening bell as the optimism that seemed kicked off the new year fades.
Futures for the S&P 500 declined 0.2% Thursday, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 0.4%. Nasdaq futures were off 0.3% before the bell.
Military contractors are the fastest rising stocks on the S&P after President Donald Trump on Wednesday proposed raising U.S. military spending by 67% to $1.5 trillion in 2027, citing “troubled
and dangerous times.” The 2026 military budget is $901 billion.
Shares of RTX rose 4.8% during off hours trading, while Northrop Grumman jumped 8.5% and General Dynamics climbed 6.2%.
Trump's comments came just days after a U.S. military operation captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges. U.S. forces continue to mass in the Caribbean Sea.
Trump in recent days has also called for taking over the Danish territory of Greenland for national security reasons and has suggested he’s open to carrying out military operations in Colombia.
Shares of Angi rose nearly 3% after the online home services company announced it was laying off about 12% of its workforce citing, in part, efficiencies driven by artificial intelligence.
Elsewhere, at midday in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3%, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.2% and Germany's DAX dropped 0.1%.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.6% on Thursday to 51,117.26, with technology stocks among those leading the decline. SoftBank, which focuses on tech investments, dropped 7.6%, while semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron dipped 4%.
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng lost 1.2% to 26,149.31, although shares of OpenAI’s Chinese rival Zhipu rose as much as around 15% above their offer price in the company's trading debut.
The Shanghai Composite index fell nearly 0.1% to 4,082.98.
South Korea’s Kospi, which reached record high levels this week, mostly flatlined Thursday, adding less than 0.1% to 4,552.37.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 8,720.80, while Taiwan’s Taiex slid more than 0.2%.
Oil prices rose Thursday after the U.S. seized two oil tankers as Trump’s administration sought to assert control over Venezuelan oil. That also followed Trump’s earlier remarks that Venezuela would provide 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 85 cents to $56.85 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, also rose 85 cents, to $60.81 per barrel.
Later Thursday morning, the Labor Department will release its weekly report on U.S. layoffs, with its monthly job report for December scheduled for release on Friday.
