5 things to know before the stock market opens

Stock futures rose before a technology outage halted trading ahead of the shortened trading session; Stock markets will close today at 1pm EST, while bond markets will end trading at 2pm EST. Major retailers are seeing a rise ahead of Black Friday shopping day today; The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating investment bank Jefferies (JEF) over its ties to bankrupt auto parts maker First Brands Group. Here’s what you need to know today.

Major US stock indexes are on pace for their best week since June

With stock futures rising due to technology outages, major indexes could be on track for their biggest weekly gains since June. Nasdaq-linked futures rose 0.2% before the outage. The technology-focused index added about 4.2% in the first three sessions of the holiday-shortened week. S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 0.1% recently, with those indexes up 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively, for the week so far. Bitcoin price was trading at around $91,400 after breaking the $90,000 level on Wednesday. Gold futures rose to $4,221 an ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects a range of consumer loans, was little changed at about 4%. Oil futures rose to $59.08 per barrel.

CME Group trading halted due to data center cooling issue

Futures trading has been halted on some Chicago Mercantile Exchange markets due to a data center issue. “Due to a cooling issue at CyrusOne data centres, our markets are currently down. Support is working to resolve the issue in the near term and will update customers with pre-unlock details as soon as they are available,” the CME Group website said this morning. It later posted that BrokerTec’s EU markets were open and trading, while other CME Group markets remained closed.

Markets close early today after the Thanksgiving holiday

Traders returning from the Thanksgiving holiday will not have a full session today, as markets operate shorter hours. The stock market closes at 1 pm ET, while the bond market closes at 2 pm ET. Markets return to their full schedule next week, with trading breaks following the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Black Friday arrives with record holiday spending expected

Consumer confidence may be wavering, but retailers are betting that shoppers could push holiday spending to record levels with the arrival of Black Friday shopping day. The Friday after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, with many retailers promoting sales and specials. The National Retail Federation expects consumers to push total holiday shopping season sales above $1 trillion for the first time. Consumers will also find deals online as e-commerce sellers prepare for the upcoming “Cyber ​​Monday” sales day, with Salesforce predicting that “Cyber ​​Week” sales from Thanksgiving through Monday could reach $78 billion. Shares of retailers Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Amazon (AMZN), and Macy’s (M) were all higher in pre-market trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Jefferies’ relationships with First Brands Group

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating investment bank Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) over its ties to bankrupt auto parts maker First Brands Group. Financial Times I mentioned. The SEC is looking into whether Jefferies gave investors in the Point Bonita fund sufficient information about their exposure to First Brands, which filed for bankruptcy in December. The report showed that Jefferies CEO Rich Handler said the bank believed it had been defrauded by First Brands. Jefferies shares were lower in pre-market trading.