Market Snapshot: U.S. stock futures point to gains in shortened session as Black Friday shopping swings into focus

Equities finished higher for a second session on Wednesday, with the Dow industrials
DJIA,
+0.50%
rising 95.96 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 34,194.06. The S&P 500
SPX,
+0.59%
gained 23.68 points, or 0.6%, to 4,027.26, while the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+2.17%
advanced 110.91 points, or 1%, to end at 11,285.32.

What’s driving markets?

Markets rose Wednesday after the minutes of the November Federal Reserve meeting showed most policy makers expect a slower pace of interest rate increases ahead. A batch of economic data also indicated growth is also slowing down.

Investors are clinging to hopes that the Fed will pivot, or turn towards a less aggressive pace of rate hikes, amid concerns the economy is facing a tough 2023.

Read: Fed’s Bullard set to talk inflation, interest rates in MarketWatch Q&A Monday

There is no data planned for Friday, which will mark a shortened session for Wall Street, with trading ending at 1 p.m. Eastern. But investors are facing a busy week ahead, with a large batch of data including third-quarter gross domestic product, the Fed’s favored inflation gauge, the PCE price index, home prices, manufacturing updates and November payrolls data.

The post-Thanksgiving trading day also kicks off the start of annual holiday shopping, known as Black Friday, which could put shares of Amazon.com
AMZN,
+1.00%,
Walmart
WMT,
+0.48%
and Target
TGT,
+3.52%,
among others, in focus.

The bond market will also see a schedule similar to that of equities. U.S Treasury yields were little changed, with that of the two-year note
TMUBMUSD02Y,
4.479%
down 1 basis point to 4.467% and the yield on the 10-year note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
3.709%
steady at 3.691%.