Dow Futures Point Toward Another Up Day for Stocks
Stock futures are signaling a higher open, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) looks for a second straight win. Trading volume is likely to stay muted ahead the start of the new year, but investors will have some economic data to digest nonetheless. Weekly jobless claims this morning came in higher than expected, with 245,000 people filing for unemployment benefits, compared to 240,000 forecast. Later on, domestic crude inventories and international trade data will come out. Bitcoin should also continue to grab headlines, after South Korea announced new regulations for the cryptocurrency.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
2 best stocks to own in the first quarter. Buy the dip on this semiconductor stock. More bullish attention for uptrending Lululemon stock. Plus, J.B. Hunt pulls back; a stock up 81% pre-market; and 3 blockchain losers. 
5 Things You Need to Know Today
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 577,530 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 315,080 put contracts. It was the lightest call volume since Black Friday's short session, and the lightest put volume since the July 3 short session. The single-session equity put/call ratio moved down to 0.55, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.57.J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ:JBHT) stock is trading 1.7% lower before the open, after the company issued fourth-quarter sales guidance below expectations. JBHT stock just touched a record high of $115.74 two days ago, and sports a year-to-date lead of 19%. Mobile marketing specialist Live Ventures Inc (NASDAQ:LIVE) stock is set to jump 81% at the open, thanks to better-than-expected full-year revenue and news it's requested an extension for its 10-K filing. If the huge move comes to fruition, LIVE stock could eke into the black on a year-to-date basis. Meanwhile, a number of blockchain stocks are falling hard before the open, after South Korea took steps to regulate cryptocurrency trading. Longfin Corp (NASDAQ:LFIN), Long Island Iced Tea Corp (NASDAQ:LTEA), and Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) stocks are all signaling sharply lower opens. The earnings schedule is bare today.
Overseas Trading
Most Asian markets settled higher today, despite persistently low holiday trading volume. Copper prices continued to climb following Wednesday's well-received import data out of China, while tech stocks recovered from Apple-related losses earlier in the week.By the close, South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.9%, and China's Shanghai Composite added 0.7%. However, Japan's Nikkei ended lower, losing 0.6% on strength in the yen.
It's a quiet session in Europe at midday, with regional indexes hovering close to the breakeven line amid a general lack of news- or data-driven catalysts. Likewise, Brent crude futures are nearly flat, as oil continues to cool its heels after setting a two-year high earlier this week. At last look, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.2%, while the French CAC 40 and German DAX have dipped about 0.2% each.