5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens on December 18, 2025

Markets brace for another day of legacy finance theater—while digital assets quietly rewrite the rules.

1. The Opening Bell: More Than Just a Sound

That 9:30 AM chime echoes through trading floors, but it's just ceremonial noise in a 24/7 global economy. Traditional markets cling to their opening rituals while crypto exchanges hum along, uninterrupted—no bell required.

2. Pre-Market Moves: The Insider Warm-Up

Watch the pre-market action. It's where institutional whispers become price movements—a curated preview for the privileged few. Contrast that with crypto's transparent, on-chain order books where every player sees the same data.

3. Economic Data Drops: Scheduled Volatility

Traders today will pivot on manufactured numbers—CPI revisions, jobless claims. Entire strategies hinge on government spreadsheets published at precise times. Meanwhile, blockchain networks generate real-time economic truth every block.

4. Earnings Season Theater

Companies will announce carefully massaged results, followed by scripted CEO platitudes on conference calls. The whole dance exists to manage expectations within a quarterly reporting circus that crypto projects simply bypass.

5. The Fed Watch: Central Bank Puppetry

Every word from central bankers gets parsed like ancient scripture. Markets hang on hints about interest rates—a system where a few individuals' moods move trillions. Decentralized protocols, by design, have no such single point of failure or sentiment.

The traditional market opens with fanfare each morning, yet operates within yesterday's infrastructure. It's a fascinating spectacle of centralized control—perfect for those who enjoy watching puppets dance while the real financial revolution builds backstage.

1. Stock Futures Rise Ahead of Inflation Data

Stock futures are pointing to a higher open Thursday ahead of a key reading of inflation data, with tech stocks looking to reverse their recent slide. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were up 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, while those connected to the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 were up 0.8%.

On Wednesday, the major indexes declined as the Dow lost 0.5%, and the S&P and Nasdaq sank even further as tech stocks tumbled. Oil futures are down to roughly $56 a barrel, with gold futures still slightly below record highs at about $4,350. Bitcoin is trading around $87,000, where it has been for most of the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is at about 4.13%.

2. November CPI Due This Morning With Inflation Expected at 3.1%

Investors will get another look into the state of the U.S. economy today, with the CPI report for November scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. The key inflation metric is expected to show that inflation ROSE by 3.1% last month, the biggest increase since May 2024, as tariffs continue to drive prices higher. The inflation reading will impact how the Federal Reserve thinks about interest rates ahead of its next meeting in January, but inflation rising at the same time that unemployment is also increasing and the job market looks stagnant makes for a difficult decision.

3. Micron Stock Surges on Strong Results

Micron (MU) shares are surging after the maker of memory chips posted better revenue and profits in its latest quarterly report after the market closed Wednesday. Micron supplies memory components to other chipmakers like Nvidia (NVDA); it has seen its stock nearly triple this year, closing at a record high last week before the recent tech sell-off started.

Analysts said ahead of the report that an AI-fueled demand surge has led to a shortage in the memory components Micron and other companies make, leading to historically high prices in the sector. Micron shares are up more than 11% premarket.

4. Nike Slated to Give Update on Turnaround Effort, Tariffs

Nike (NKE) is scheduled to release its own results for last quarter after the closing bell today, with sales expected to decline slightly while profits are cut nearly in half by high tariffs and other costs. The stock has recovered from the lows it fell to after President Donald TRUMP announced plans to enact massive tariffs in April, but is still down for the year as the companay manages a turnaround plan that analysts say would have taken time even without the weight of tariffs.

The company beat revenue estimates in its last report in September, but raised its projected tariff payments to $1.5 billion from $1 billion. Nike CEO Elliott Hill took over the top job at the athletic apparel giant just over a year ago. Nike shares are up just under 1% premarket, and options pricing suggests the stock could swing up to 7% in either direction following today's report.

5. BP Announces Succession Plan; Activist Investor Reportedly Pushing Candidate for Lululemon Job

Some high-profile corporate leadership changes were in focus this morning. One of the world's biggest oil and gas companies has a new CEO, as BP (BP) announced a succession plan on Thursday. Current CEO Murray Auchincloss is stepping down effective Thursday, and Meg O’Neill will become the British energy company's new CEO April 1, 2026. Current EVP of supply, trading, and shipping Carol Howle will serve as BP's interim CEO, the company said. BP's U.S.-listed shares are down nearly 1% Thursday morning.

Meanwhile,The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built a $1 billion-plus stake in Lululemon (LULU) and is looking to push for its own CEO candidate. The athleisure brand said last week that its current CEO will leave at the end of January. Lululemon's stock was recently up more than 6% premarket.