U.S. stock futures rose slightly Friday after a volatile start to the new year. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 126 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively. Stocks kicked off January with a choppy trading session, with investors taking profits in some notable 2024 gainers such as Apple and Tesla. The Dow ended the day lower by more than 150 points, or about 0.4%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite slid about 0.2%, each. All three benchmarks were higher earlier in the day, with the Dow having gained more than 300 points at one point, but fell back as the session progressed. Those moves come after stocks ended 2024 on a sour note, with the S&P 500 closing out the year with four consecutive days of losses, a first going back to 1966. The broad market index notched a stupendous 23% gain for the year, but fell 2.5% in December. The “Santa Claus” rally, in which stocks gain in the final five trading days of one year and the first two of the next, also failed to materialize. “The setup for some of this weakness was probably very sentiment driven. We had really gotten to a lot of frothy conditions in the aftermath of the election, that post-election rally period, especially when we went back into that concentration problem,” Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Thursday. “I don’t think there was really any kind of prime catalyst,” she added. “I think it was a little bit more of an exhaustion from a sentiment standpoint.” The economic calendar is thin on catalysts this week, but traders on Friday will watch for the latest reading of the ISM Manufacturing Index. Federal Reserve officials Thomas Barkin and Mary Daly are also set to speak. Stocks are on pace to close out the week with losses. As of Thursday’s close, the 30-stock Dow and S&P 500 were lower by more than 1%, each. The Nasdaq Composite slid more than 2%. U.S. Treasury yields fell on Friday as investors considered the economic outlook for the new year, amidst a quiet trading week. At shortly after 7 a.m. ET, The 10-year Treasury yield was down by more than 2 basis points at 4.547%, while the 2-year Treasury dipped 1 basis point to 4.237%. China stocks extended declines on Friday in a bumpy start to the new year, despite gains in the broader Asia-Pacific region, as investors assessed Beijing’s policy signals. Mainland China’s benchmark CSI 300 index fell 1.18% to close at 3,775.16480 after a volatile session, extending a decline of 2.9% the day before. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.42% as of its final hour of trade. China’s bond yields hit record lows with the 10-year yield dropping 1.5 basis point to 1.598%, and 30-year government bond yield down 2.9 basis points at 1.819%, according to LSEG data. South Korean markets, however, appeared to shrug off the political chaos, with the Kospi index rising 1.79% to close at 2,441.92 and the small-cap Kosdaq advancing 2.79% to 705.76. SK Hynix saw its shares surge 6.25%, as the chipmaker said it would unveil plans to position itself as a “full stack AI memory provider” at Consumer Electronics Show 2025 next week. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.60% to settle at 8,250.50. Japan markets remained closed for a holiday. Oil prices were little changed on Friday and poised for weekly gains after closing at their highest in more than two months in the previous session, underpinned by expectations of further economic stimulus in China and lower U.S. interest rates. Brent crude futures were down 7 cents at $75.86 a barrel by 0900 GMT after settling at the highest level since Oct. 25 on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dipped by 6 cents to $73.07, with Thursday’s close its highest since Oct. 14. Brent was on track for a 2.2% weekly gain while WTI was set for a 3.5% increase. Gold prices touched their highest level in three weeks on Friday supported by a softer dollar and safe-haven buying, while markets braced for potential economic and interest rate changes from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Spot gold was little changed at $2,654.21 per ounce, as of 0917 GMT, hitting its highest level since Dec. 13. Bullion is up about 1.3% for the week so far. U.S. gold futures were steady at $2,668.70. The dollar index fell 0.4% from over a two-year high hit in the previous session, making dollar-priced bullion more affordable for holders of other currencies.