The S&P 500 futures currently trade three points above fair value.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 216.15, +1.11, +0.5%) secured a major Alibaba (BABA 150.26, +0.20, +0.1%) chip order to compete with Nvidia (NVDA 190.13, +1.52, +0.8%), according to Digitimes.

Equity futures point to a flattish opening this morning as the market returns from yesterday's Christmas holiday. 

The major averages come into today's session with week-to-date gains wider than 1.0% following several quiet days of broad strength earlier this week. Newsflow has been light and volume has been low, but the general upward trend and some restored optimism around the AI trade saw the S&P 500 notch record highs in Wednesday's session, while the DJIA notched a closing high of its own. 

Today's session could pass in a similarly quiet fashion, as there are no economic data releases or earnings reports on the schedule today. 

On the geopolitical front, the U.S. is gathering more manpower and weaponry to seize another oil tanker linked to Iran and Venezuela, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

In corporate news:

• China imposes sanctions on U.S. defense companies following President Trump's decision to sell weapons to Taiwan, according to Reuters. 
• NVIDIA (NVDA 189.62, +1.01, +0.5%) has struck a licensing agreement with AI startup Groq, according to Bloomberg. 
• Warner Brothers (WBD 28.85, -0.38, -1.3%) wants Paramount (PSKY 13.74, +0.00, +0.0%) to increase its hostile offer, according to The New York Post. 

Reviewing overnight developments:

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region had a mixed showing on Friday while markets in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong were closed for Christmas/Boxing Day. Japan's Nikkei: +0.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng: CLOSED, China's Shanghai Composite: +0.1%, India's Sensex: -0.4%, South Korea's Kospi: +0.5%, Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: CLOSED.

In news:

• Samsung and SK Hynix climbed amid reports that they will be ready to mass produce HBM4 memory in February.
• Japan's 2-yr yield hit its highest level since 1996 even though Tokyo Core CPI decelerated to 2.3% yr/yr in December from 2.8% in November.
• Japan's cabinet confirmed a record FY26 budget of JPY122.3 trillion.
• State-owned banks in China are reportedly actively purchasing dollars in the spot market.

In economic data:

• Japan's November Housing Starts -8.5% yr/yr (expected 0.2%; last 3.2%) and Construction Orders 9.5% yr/yr (last -10.1%). November Industrial Production -2.6% m/m (expected -1.9%; last 1.5%) and November Retail Sales 1.0% yr/yr (expected 0.9%; last 1.7%). November Unemployment Rate 2.6%, as expected (last 2.6%). December Tokyo CPI 2.0% yr/yr (last 2.7%) and Tokyo Core CPI 2.3% yr/yr (expected 2.5%; last 2.8%)
• Singapore's November Industrial Production -10.2% m/m (last 11.2%); 14.3% yr/yr (expected 14.2%; last 28.9%)

Major European indices remain closed for Boxing Day.

In news:

• Ukraine's President Zelensky is expected to visit Florida in the coming days to discuss the proposed peace plan.

There are no economic data releases of note today.