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The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Friday, with stocks likely to move to the upside after ending yesterday’s volatile session modestly lower.

Traders may once again look to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness on Wall Street, which has seen the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 close lower for five straight sessions.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq saw wild swings over the course of the trading day on Thursday before ending the day at its lowest closing level in a month.

Stocks moved notably higher early in the session on Thursday but failed to sustain the upward move and fluctuated over the course of the trading day.

The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged line in morning trading before sliding more firmly into negative territory in the early afternoon only to regain ground in the latter part of the session.

The major averages eventually ended the day modestly lower. The Dow fell 151.95 points or 0.4 percent to 42,392.27, the Nasdaq dipped 30.00 points or 0.2 percent to 19,280.79 and the S&P 500 slipped 13.08 points or 0.2 percent to 5,868.55.

The early strength on Wall Street came as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the notable downward move seen to close out 2024.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as a Labor Department report showing an unexpected decline by weekly jobless claims seemingly provides support for the Federal Reserve’s measured approach to lowering interest rates.

The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 211,000 in the week ended December 28th, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 220,000.

The dip surprised economist, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 222,000 from the 219,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 209,000 in the week ended April 27, 2024.

“The claims data are consistent with a labor market that is strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to proceed with rate cuts at a more measured pace in 2025,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead US Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, “Our baseline is for three rate cuts this year, although the risk following the mid-December FOMC meeting is for fewer cuts.”

The subsequent volatility may have reflected below average volume, as many traders remained away from their desks following the New Year’s Day holiday on Wednesday.

The modestly lower close by the broader markets came amid a slump by shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), with the electric vehicle maker plunging by 6.1 percent after reporting a decrease by annual deliveries in 2024.

Tech giant Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) also tumbled by 2.6 percent following news the company is offering discounts on its latest iPhone models in China amid heightened competition.

Despite the modestly lower close by the broader markets, gold stocks moved sharply higher on the day, resulting in a 4.4 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The rally by gold stocks came amid a jump by the price of the precious metal.

A surge by the price of crude oil also contributed to significant strength among oil producer stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Oil Index.

Natural gas and brokerage stocks also saw considerable strength, while housing, airline and commercial real estate stocks showed notable moves to the downside.

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