Nasdaq-100 futures led indices higher on strong second-tier economic data.

December Nasdaq futures was the strongest performer among the major U.S. indices, closing up 1.04%, only beaten by the small cap Russell 2000 futures. The high today was 25,080.80. While official government economic data is delayed due to the government shutdown, second-tier data provided market support. The ADP private Employment report beat expectations with 42,000 jobs added and reversed the previous month's negative print. Additionally, the ISM non-manufacturing PMI was stronger than expected, including its employment component and price index. This mix of data provided support for stock valuations. The session had light volume, with the Nasdaq volume at just over 75% of the average daily volume, but gains in companies like AMD (up over 3%) and Qualcomm (up over 5.3%) helped drive the technology-heavy index higher.