5 things to know before the stock market opens on Friday

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Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.

Stock futures trading was halted this morning after a data center “cooling issue” disrupted some services at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Although individual stocks are still trading before the bell, CME announced that futures index and options trading will begin in full at 8:30 a.m. Follow live market updates here.

Stock markets rebounded during the holiday-shortened business week. However, the three major indexes are still on pace to end the November trading month (ending at today’s closing price) in the red. of Dow and S&P500 While ready to end a six-month winning streak; Nasdaq Composite is expected to be negative for the first time in eight years.

Today’s trading session ends at 1:00 PM ET.

Black Friday was once considered the biggest in-person shopping day of the year, with people flocking to stores in search of bargains. But while millions of people are still expected to attend the event, it will not be the same.

Here’s what you need to know:

For the past six years, online sales have exceeded in-store spending on Black Friday. Data shows that in-person foot traffic has also remained roughly flat in recent years. No matter where they shop, shoppers are also skeptical about whether they’re getting the best deal. As CNBC’s Gabriel Fontrouge reports, this shift means a shift in strategy for many of the retail industry’s biggest players. Deloitte reports that the average consumer will spend $622 between November 27 and December 1, which is 4% less than last year. Despite the loss of the allure of sale day, AT&T found that Gen Z participated the most, with older generations shopping closer to Christmas.

alphabet It has become a notable exception to the recent tech downturn. Shares of Google’s parent company have soared more than 13% this month as Wall Street views the company as a leader in AI.

Earlier in the month, Alphabet announced its latest tensor processing unit (TPU) called Ironwood. Last week, the company announced its latest AI model, Gemini 3, which received positive attention from Silicon Valley’s leading companies.

The company’s stock price has risen nearly 70% this year, making it one of the best-performing mega-cap tech stocks. But experts told CNBC’s Jennifer Elias that Alphabet’s lead in the competitive AI market is slim and could be difficult to maintain.

The AI ​​race between Alphabet and Nvidia is not the only technology competition that has intensified in recent days.

alibabaAI-equipped smart glasses were released yesterday. With new wearable technology offerings, Chinese technology companies are taking on the big players. metaannounced smart glasses in collaboration with Ray Ban in September.

Meanwhile, Counterpoint Research found that: apple is poised to ship more smartphones than Samsung this year for the first time in 14 years. Apple is also poised to command even bigger market share, driven by strong sales of the iPhone 17.

American shoppers are increasingly turning to South Korea for cosmetics. U.S. sales of so-called “K-beauty” products are expected to jump more than 37% this year to more than $2 billion, according to a study by NielsenIQ.

From beauty product hub to retail store Ulta From Sephora to large chain stores walmart and costco I’m on trend. In addition, Olive Young, also known as the “Sephora of Soul,” plans to open its first U.S. store in Los Angeles next year.

Here are some stories worth reflecting on over the weekend.

—CNBC’s Chloe Taylor, Gabriel Fonrouge, Raya Neelakandan, Jessica Dickler, Sarah Ming, Sean Conlon, Jennifer Elias, Arjun Karpal and Luke Fountain contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.