D.C. Headlines Drive Dow Futures Lower

It's an abbreviated session on Wall Street today, with the stock market closing at 1 p.m. ET for the Christmas holiday, and shuttered all day tomorrow. Traders are less than cheerful, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures trading well below fair value this morning. Futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are also signaling lower opens, following the stock market's worst week in years.

D.C. headlines continue to drive the risk-off backdrop. In addition to a partial government shutdown, which went into effect over the weekend, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin contacted the CEOs of the country's six biggest banks to discuss liquidity in financial markets, and sent out a tweet to tamp down rumors President Donald Trump is considering firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including: 

• The Fed rate hike is bad news for this insurance stock.
• Citigroup isn't buying Altria's big investment.
• Plus, a surging drug stock; Tesla cuts prices again; and a bear note for Goldman Sachs.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 879,492 call contracts traded on Friday, compared to 989,679 put contracts The single-session equity put/call ratio jumped to 1.13 -- the first time it's topped 1.00 since June 24, 2016 -- and the 21-day moving average ticked up to 0.74.
2. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Inbrija, a Parkinson's disease treatment made by Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR). The regulatory win has ACOR shares up 16% in premarket trading, set to open near $15 per share. Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs downgraded the drug stock to "sell."
3. Tesla Inc (NYSE:TSLA) lowered the price of its Model 3 sedan in China by up to 7.6%, marking the third time in three months the electric automaker has cut the cost of its cars in the Asian nation. TSLA stock is down 2.4% ahead of the bell and could test its 200-day moving average today -- a trendline that emerged as support amid the equity's 15% decline from its mid-December highs near $375.
4. Credit Suisse cut its price target on Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) to $250 from $258, though the downwardly revised forecast is still well above the stock's Friday close at $160.05. GS stock is down 1.2% in electronic trading, with the financial shares on track to post their worst monthly performance since May 2012 -- down 16.1% since the start of December.

5. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index is due out in today's holiday-shortened session. The stock market is closed tomorrow for Christmas.

Global Stocks Struggle Ahead of Christmas

Asian markets were a mixed bag in a low-volume session. China’s Shanghai Composite pared early losses to finish up 0.4%, boosted by a weekend report that progress had been made with the U.S. last week on trade talks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, however, gave back 0.4% in a holiday-shortened session, as tech giant Tencent pulled back. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei was closed for holiday.

Over in Europe, stocks were quiet today, with markets closing early for the holidays. All eyes are glued to the U.S. in the wake of its sharp sell-off and government shutdown last week, especially after it was reported Mnuchin held calls with top U.S. bankers over the weekend. London’s FTSE 100 lost 0.5%, while the French CAC 40 shed 1.5%. The German DAX bucked the broader trend to edge up 0.2%.