Pre-Market Brief - December 04, 2025 (EST)

U.S. stock futures present a mixed picture ahead of the December 4, 2025, trading session: Dow Jones futures are up 0.10% to 47,929.00, S&P 500 futures edge 0.09% higher to 6,856.20, and Nasdaq 100 futures dip less than 0.1% [2][3][4]. Pre-market movements are largely driven by after-hours earnings reactions from the prior day: Salesforce (CRM) advanced 1.71% pre-market (following a ~4% after-hours jump) after reporting record third-quarter fiscal 2026 results and raising revenue guidance to $41.45-$41.55 billion [7][8][10]. In contrast, Snowflake (SNOW) tumbled 8.6% pre-market (after an 8% after-hours decline) due to a disappointing product revenue growth outlook for the January quarter [7][8]. Other notable pre-market movers include Five Below (FIVE) (+4.5% on Q3 earnings beat), Hormel Foods (HRL) (+6.5% on full-year EPS guidance upgrade), Dollar General (DG) (+6% on raised EPS guidance), and UiPath (PATH) (+8% on better-than-expected Q3 results) [7].

Key catalysts today include the initial jobless claims report (8:30 AM ET), with economists forecasting 220,000 claims—data that could influence Federal Reserve policy expectations [9][14]. Markets currently price an 85% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut at the December 9-10 FOMC meeting, fueled by weak November ADP jobs data (32,000 private sector job losses) [3][11]. Earnings reports scheduled for today include Kroger (KR), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), ServiceTitan (TTAN), Samsara (IOT), Stitch Fix (SFIX), and Rubrik (RBRK) [15].

1. Tech sector sentiment is split, with CRM’s strong guidance supporting optimism while SNOW’s weak outlook raises concerns about cloud software growth [7][8][10].
2. Retail earnings (FIVE, DG, KR, ULTA) are in focus, with early positive results (FIVE, DG) suggesting potential resilience in consumer spending amid rate cut expectations [7][15].
3. Fed rate cut bets remain high (85% for December 10), but today’s jobless claims data could adjust these expectations, impacting broad market sentiment [3][9][11].
4. Smaller tech names like Toast (TOST) (+2.8% pre-market, JPMorgan upgrade) and nCino (NCNO) (+8% pre-market, guidance raise) show selective strength [7].

• Risks
  : Disappointing initial jobless claims (higher than expected) could dampen Fed rate cut hopes, leading to market volatility [9][11]. Earnings misses from key retailers (KR, ULTA) may negatively impact consumer sector stocks [15].
• Opportunities
  : Tech stocks with strong earnings and guidance (CRM, PATH) could outperform, while retail names with positive momentum (FIVE, DG) may attract investor interest [7][8][10].

This pre-market analysis covers mixed U.S. futures performance, notable earnings reactions (CRM up, SNOW down), Fed rate cut expectations (85% probability for December), today’s initial jobless claims report, and scheduled earnings from major retailers and tech firms. Key pre-market movers include CRM, SNOW, FIVE, HRL, DG, and PATH. Upcoming events include the FOMC meeting (December 9-10) and the monthly jobs report (December 5) [11][14].