5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens

Stock futures are little changed Friday after the S&P 500 and Dow snapped four-day losing streaks yesterday; Friday is the final quadruple witching day of the year, with a record amount of options contracts set to expire today; Nike stock is plunging amid concerns about sales weakness in China; TikTok reportedly has agreed to a deal to give American investors including Oracle a controlling stake; and FedEx earnings handily topped Wall Street expectations. Here's what you need to know today.

Stocks Holding Steady After S&P 500, Dow Snap Skids

Stock futures are hovering near unchanged this morning after a tech-fueled rally sent major indexes sharply higher yesterday. S&P 500 futures were flat recently, while those linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.1% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.1%. All three major indexes gained on Thursday after inflation data for November was better than expected, with the Nasdaq leading the charge on a tech rally that was sparked by strong earnings from memory chip maker Micron Technology (MU). Bitcoin was trading around $88,000 this morning after dipping below $85,000 yesterday. Gold futures were down 0.2% to about $4,355 an ounce after briefly setting a new high above $4,400 on Thursday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was at 4.15% after slipping to 4.12% Thursday.

Quadruple Witching Day is Here

Friday could make for a particularly volatile day of trading, as a record amount of options contracts are set to close today. That's because Friday is the final "quadruple witching" day of the year, one of four days a year when stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stock futures all expire on the same day. Goldman Sachs estimates that more than $7.1 trillion in options are set to expire Friday, with $5 trillion tied to the S&P 500 and $880 billion tied to single stocks, per CNBC.

Nike Stock Sinks as China Sales Weakness Continues

Nike (NKE) stock is tumbling Friday despite stronger-than-expected quarterly results, as investors focus on comments executives made about the progress of the company's turnaround effort in China. The athletic apparel giant posted fiscal second-quarter revenue of $12.4 billion and earnings per share $0.53, each above the analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha. While sales rose year-over-year in North America, sales in China sank by 17% in the quarter, with a 21% drop in shoe sales. CEO Elliott Hill said Nike is "in the middle innings" of its turnaround effort, a plan he introduced around a year ago, shortly after taking over as CEO. CFO Matt Friend said in Thursday's earnings call that the company expects sales headwinds in China to likely continue for the rest of the fiscal year. Shares of the Dow component were down 11% in recent premarket trading.

TikTok Reaches Deal for Control by US Investors

TikTok has reportedly reached a deal to be controlled by American investors. A group of investors made up of cloud computing giant Oracle (ORCL), private equity firm Silver Lake, and MGX, a tech investment fund based in Abu Dhabi, will own a combined 45% stake. ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, will retain a 20% stake with the remaining stake going to other ByteDance-affiliated investors. The Biden administration passed a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it wasn't sold to American investors, and Trump extended the deadline several times this year. Each administration raised concerns about the data of American users potentially being at risk of being handed over to the Chinese government. Oracle shares, which have fallen sharply since reporting weak quarterly results last week, were up more than 4% ahead of the opening bell.

FedEx Beats Estimates, Expects Higher Costs on MD-11 Fleet Grounding

FedEx (FDX) reported quarterly numbers that topped Wall Street expectations. The package shipping giant reported revenue of $23.47 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $4.82, each well above the analyst consensus. FedEx said its planned spinoff of its Freight business remains on track to take place in June 2026. The company also said that it took on about $25 million in added costs in November that is expected to rise through the busy holiday shipping season after a UPS (UPS) plane crash last month led to the grounding of all MD-11 planes, FedEx hired some third-party assistance for some of its air cargo transport needs, which CFO John Dietrich said during Thursday's call came at "an expensive time of the year to be getting outsourced lift." FedEx shares were down about 1.5% in recent premarket trading.

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