If you're hoping for a quiet holiday week in the markets, you might want to reconsider. U.S. stock futures kicked off Monday morning on an upbeat note, building on Friday's gains even as investors prepare for a truncated trading schedule and a pile of delayed economic data.

Futures for the major benchmark indices all climbed in early trading, with the Nasdaq 100 leading the pack. The previous week wasn't exactly stellar—the S&P 500 slipped 0.37%, the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.10%, and the Dow Jones fell 0.95%. But Monday's premarket action suggested investors were ready to put last week behind them.

The holiday schedule is worth noting: trading will wrap up early Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. EST for equities and 2:00 p.m. EST for bonds, then markets shut down entirely on Thursday. Despite the abbreviated week, there's no shortage of economic indicators to chew on, headlined by the initial figures for third-quarter GDP that were delayed from their usual release schedule.

On the bond front, the 10-year Treasury was yielding 4.16%, while the two-year sat at 3.49%. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, markets are pricing in an 80.1% probability that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates right where they are at the next meeting.

Here's how the futures were shaping up Monday morning:

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 respectively, were both trading higher in premarket action. The SPY was up 0.33% at $682.81, while the QQQ advanced 0.41% to $619.60, according to market data.

Company Moves Worth Watching

Trump Media Keeps Climbing

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (DJT) was up 3.67% in premarket trading, continuing its rally after completing a $6 billion merger with fusion company TAE Technologies. The stock has maintained a weaker price trend over the long term but has shown strength in both the short and medium terms.

Kemper Takes a Hit

Kemper Corp. (KMPR) shares tumbled 6.84% after William Blair downgraded the stock from outperform to market perform. The analyst cited deteriorating fundamentals in the auto insurance sector as the reason for the downgrade, according to an Investing.com report. The stock maintains a weaker price trend across short, medium, and long terms, though it does show a strong value ranking.

Tokyo Lifestyle Reports Mixed Results

Tokyo Lifestyle Co. Ltd. (TKLF) slumped 8.72% after reporting half-year losses of 2 cents per share, compared to year-ago earnings of 3 cents per share. It wasn't all bad news though—the company's sales jumped to $190.421 million from $98.003 million in the same period last year. The stock maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking.

Comfort Systems Names New President

Comfort Systems USA Inc. (FIX) rose 2.35% after announcing that COO Trent T. McKenna will become president effective January 1. The stock maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, backed by a solid quality ranking.

cbdMD Beats Revenue Despite Wider Loss

cbdMD Inc. (YCBD) advanced 3.13% despite posting a fourth-quarter loss of 8 cents per share, which was slightly worse than market estimates of a 7-cent loss. The silver lining: the company's sales came in at $4.721 million, beating estimates of $4.702 million. The stock maintains a stronger price trend over the short and medium terms but shows weakness in the long term, with a poor growth ranking.

What Happened Friday

Friday's session saw information technology, industrials, and health care stocks lead the S&P 500 higher, while consumer staples and utilities bucked the trend to close in the red. Here's how the major indices finished:

What the Experts Are Saying

Mohamed El-Erian isn't sugarcoating the outlook. In his Substack post, the prominent economist forecasts a precarious economic path defined by an "ambiguous data landscape" and significant policy fragmentation.

Looking ahead to 2026, he sees the U.S. economy locked in a "tense tug-of-war" between three scenarios: a "Goldilocks-lite" baseline, a productivity-fueled upside driven by AI, and a volatile downside risk where employment potentially decouples from GDP.

More immediately, El-Erian warns that market stability hinges on "high-stakes geopolitics in the context of thin market liquidity." He specifically points to the intensifying U.S. blockade of Venezuela as a potential flashpoint that could disrupt what's normally a quiet holiday period.

He also highlights a "widening divergence among the world's major central banks" as a critical theme. While the Bank of England is cutting rates and the Bank of Japan is hiking to 30-year highs, the U.S. outlook remains clouded by data quality issues following the recent government shutdown.

Ultimately, El-Erian expects investors will have to navigate this volatility alongside a U.S. administration aggressively focused on "lowering the cost of living." In other words, buckle up.

Economic Calendar for the Week

Here's what investors will be keeping an eye on this week:

• No economic data is scheduled for release on Monday.
• On Tuesday, expect a data dump: the third quarter's delayed GDP report and October's delayed durable goods orders will be out by 8:30 a.m. Also, October and November's industrial production and capacity utilization data will be released by 9:15 a.m. Lastly, December's consumer confidence data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.
• On Wednesday, the initial jobless claims for the week ending December 20 will be released by 8:30 a.m. ET.
• No data is scheduled for release on Thursday and Friday.

Commodities, Crypto, and Global Markets

Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.99% to hover around $57.08 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 1.73% to hover around $4,413.65 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $4,420.35 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.08% lower at the 98.5240 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading 0.84% higher at $89,659.52 per coin.

Asian markets closed higher on Monday. India's NIFTY 50 and Australia's ASX 200, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China's CSI 300, South Korea's Kospi, and Japan's Nikkei 225 indices all rose. European markets were mixed in early trade.