North American Morning Briefing: Stock Futures Fall as Rally Stalls Amid Jitters

OPENING CALL

Stocks look poised to retreat for a second day, as worries lingered from the previous session.

Investors may have shrugged off geopolitical tensions tied to Venezuela and Greenland at the start of this year, but they still care as much as ever about the economy, meaning Thursday's initial jobless claims data could move the market.

"A stabilising labour market puts less pressure on the Fed to take a knife to rates, but the political will to do so remains ever present," Hargreaves Lansdown's head of equity research Derren Nathan said.

He added that inflation is "the elephant in the room" because the government shutdown delayed price data.

Oil prices were steady, after The Wall Street Journal reported the White House was planning a sweeping initiative to dominate the Venezuelan oil industry for years to come , which Trump believes could lower cut prices to $50 a barrel.

Stocks to Watch

Defense stocks jumped in early premarket trading, with Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and RTX each rising about 5% or more. European weapons makers also rallied.

Applied Digital's adjusted earnings beat expectations and revenue roughly tripled last quarter. The stock rose 6% before the open.

Constellation Brands reported lower quarterly sales and profit, but results beat expectations, and shares rose around 1.5% premarket.

Globus Medical rose after the company issued preliminary sales numbers and a 2026 outlook that beat analysts' expectations. The stock was up 9.5% after hours.

Jefferies reported better-than-expected revenue, boosted by a stronger M&A market. However, the stock dropped 3% off hours.

Watch For:

Weekly Jobless Claims; Preliminary Productivity and Costs for 3Q; Trade for October; Canada Trade for October

Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:

-Trump's Plan to Run the Hemisphere Scares Friends and Puzzles Foes

-Consumers Love Cheap Gas, but the Oil Patch Will Pay the Price

-How Could the U.S. Acquire Greenland From Denmark?

MARKET WRAPS

Forex:

The dollar rose after economic data gave markets little impetus to bet on another near-term Fed rate cut.

The euro remained driven by the dollar's performance with eurozone data having little impact on the single currency, Monex Europe said.

Sterling's recent strengthening on positive risk sentiment and reduced U.K. fiscal concerns looked overdone, Danske Bank said, adding that the pound was likely to fall against the euro from here.

"The U.K. economy remains on a weak footing, and we think this can trigger more easing from the Bank of England."

Bonds:

Treasury yields were mixed with yields on short- and medium-term notes falling, while yields on maturities of 10 years and longer were little changed.

"Data-wise, the focus remains on the U.S. jobs market," ING said.

Goldman Sachs said multi-asset portfolios might get a negative input from bond performance in the first half of the year.

Bonds were unlikely to provide a large buffer in equity drawdowns, it added, saying it was looking for alternative diversifiers and hedges to improve the risk-reward.

Energy:

Oil prices continued to trade sideways.

Traders were digesting the latest U.S. actions on Venezuela, and the seizure of two tankers.

" While geopolitical risk is preventing a deeper sell-off for now, the prospect of higher Venezuelan exports has already weighed on Canadian crude prices and risks adding barrels to a market that is already grappling with ample supply," Saxo said.

Julius Baer expected oil prices to trade in the high $50s for much of 2026, adding that traders seemed unbothered and unimpressed by the recent intervention in Venezuela.

Metals:

Gold fell on a stronger dollar and as investors awaited the release of key data later this week.

"The move reflects profit-taking after crowded positioning in a market where liquidity has improved slightly, rather than a deterioration in the underlying narrative," Sucden Financial said.

"Dips are likely to be met with renewed buying interest as long as the broader allocation and structural support for precious metals remains intact."

Julius Baer reckoned that the most recent moves in gold and silver markets were driven by flows rather than fundamentals.

Speculative activity in the futures markets has strengthened in the past few weeks, particularly for silver and on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, it added.

Copper

Copper retreated , falling back below the $13,000-a-ton mark as traders locked in profits.

"While long-term prospects for copper remain bullish, the pace of the rally, up more than 40% last year-the strongest since 2009-has raised the risk of sharp pullbacks as profit-taking sets in," according to MUFG.

   TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES 

Shell Flags Weak Oil Trading Performance

Shell warned that a weak oil trading performance would drag on its earnings and narrowed guidance for its liquefied natural gas production.

The London-based energy giant Thursday said its fourth-quarter trading performance would be significantly lower than the prior quarter. While Shell's trading division oversees several liquids such as crude oil and diesel, trading in oil forms a significant portion of its activities.

China to Review Meta's Manus Deal

China's commerce ministry is reviewing Meta Platforms' more-than $2 billion acquisition of Manus, a Singapore-based artificial-intelligence startup with Chinese founders.

"The Ministry of Commerce, along with relevant departments, will conduct an evaluative investigation into this acquisition," spokesman He Yadong said in a press conference on Thursday.

7-Eleven Owner Raises Annual Profit Forecast

Seven & i Holdings raised its annual profit forecast after reporting a sharp jump in third-quarter net profit as it gears up for a listing of its North American business.

The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven said Thursday that net profit increased more than sixfold from a year earlier to 76.66 billion yen, equivalent to $489 million, for the three months ended November.

ExxonMobil Forecasting Lower Fourth-Quarter Earnings on Falling Oil, Gas Prices

ExxonMobil is projecting lower fourth-quarter earnings due to falling oil and gas prices.

The company said declining prices for liquids, which accounts for both crude and condensate oil, would lower its upstream earnings by $800 million to $1.2 billion compared to the third quarter, according to a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Eurozone's Jobless Rate Unexpectedly Falls for First Time Since April

The eurozone's unemployment rate in November unexpectedly declined for the first time in seven months, displaying the labor market's resilience despite the uncertain economic environment of last year.

Unemployment in the currency area crept down to 6.3% from 6.4% in October, where it had been since May, Eurostat said Thursday. The rate was last lower in November 2024, equaling its 6.2% record low.

Eurozone Business Confidence Slips

Confidence among businesses in the eurozone fell in December, tracking a decline in business activity at the end of 2025.

The European Commission said Thursday that its Economic Sentiment Indicator, or ESI, which measures attitudes of businesses across multiple sectors of the economy, inched down to 96.7 in the month, compared with 97.1 in November. The reading was in line with a consensus of analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal, and falls further below its long-term average of 100.

German Factory Orders Jump as Tariff Headwinds Ease

German manufacturing orders jumped in November, with large-scale orders once again boosting the factory sector as tariff uncertainty subsides.

Total orders were up 5.6% on month, following a 1.6% uptick in October, statistics agency Destatis said Thursday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal forecast a drop of 0.8% for November.

Trump Pulls U.S. Out of More Than 30 U.N. Bodies

President Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from dozens of international organizations, including United Nations commissions and major bodies set up to tackle climate change.

An executive order posted Wednesday evening said the U.S. would withdraw from and end funding to 66 international groups and agencies, including 31 linked to the U.N., calling them "contrary to the interests of the United States."

A Letter Won't Always Be Postmarked the Same Day You Drop It in the Mail

Sending time-sensitive documents like college applications, check payments, tax returns, insurance appeals and ballots through the mail?

You might want to drop off the letter a few days earlier or head to the post office and ask a mail clerk to manually postmark the letter if getting proof of the date is required for meeting a deadline. Otherwise, you risk missing an important deadline for sending your mail.

China Detains Church Leaders as Crackdown on Religion Intensifies

BEIJING-Chinese authorities are widening a crackdown on Christian groups, this week detaining church leaders in southwestern China as officials across the country intensify a campaign to root out religious organizations beyond the state's control.

The roundup of preachers and congregants of Early Rain Covenant Church, a prominent unsanctioned Protestant group in Sichuan province, shows that China has been undeterred in pursuing its campaign despite calls by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for Beijing to allow its people to worship without fear of retribution.

Cuba Is Already on the Brink. Maduro's Ouster Brings It Closer to Collapse.

Elderly Cubans are digging through garbage for scraps of food in Havana. In the country's second city, Santiago, crowds have gathered, blaring music by Cuban exiles such as Gloria Estefan and Willy Chirino, who sings "Our day is coming soon."

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January 08, 2026 06:15 ET (11:15 GMT)