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U.S. equity futures slipped lower Friday but remain on track for a positive five-day stretch that would extend the S&P 500’s weekly winning streak to eight, the best since 2017, heading into the final trading sessions of the year.

The major U.S. stock markets are expected to remain open for the full trading day Friday, although bond markets will close shop at around 1 pm eastern time ahead of the three-day holiday weekend.

Traders will first have to navigate a key inflation reading at 8:30 am, when the Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes its closely watched Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index for November.

Economists expect the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge to show another notable slowing in overall and core price pressures heading into December that are likely to cement the market’s case for rate cuts beginning in the spring,

Stocks, meanwhile, are likely to be pulled lower by Nike’s  (NKE) – Get Free Report disappointing fiscal-second-quarter earnings and muted near-term outlook. That’s clipped consumer and sports apparel stocks and looks to set to take around 92 points from the Dow at the start of trading.

Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 are indicating a 1 point opening bell gain, with the Dow called 77 points lower and the Nasdaq set for a 12 point decline.

In overseas markets, the Stoxx 600 was marked 0.1% higher in early Frankfurt trading and was holding on to a 12% gain for the year. The FTSE 100 rose 0.13% in London.

Overnight in Asia, a newly announced crackdown on the videogame industry by officials in Beijing hammered gaming and tech stocks and pulled the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan index 0.28% lower into the close of trading.

Japan’s Nikkei 225, meanwhile, rose 0.1% in muted Friday trading to take its 2023 gain to just under 29%. 

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