The Nightcap: FAA lifts a four-hour nationwide ground stop as futures close the week lower

The biggest story tonight is not a market. The Federal Aviation Administration canceled its nationwide ground stop at 8:15 PM ET Friday after more than four hours, CNBC reported. It was the second nationwide stop since the September 11 attacks, after one in January 2023. The FAA blamed communication problems at multiple en route control centers and later called it a "temporary telecommunications outage."

What we know about the stop

CNBC counted more than 10,000 disrupted flights and said cancellations and delays will stretch into the weekend. The Wall Street Journal's headline put the figure at more than 14,500. The counts differ, and we have not seen a final tally. Cirium, the flight-data firm, told CNBC about 11,000 flights were scheduled to leave U.S. airports after 4 PM ET, and about 600 were diverted. JetBlue told staff it would cancel the rest of Friday's flights, aside from European routes, and some Saturday departures, so crews and planes are in place, per a memo CNBC saw.

On cause, officials differ in emphasis. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed aging air traffic control infrastructure. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a threat and that it does not appear to be a cyberattack but "mechanically driven." No cause has been confirmed independently. Markets cannot react until Sunday evening, so the first read on airline stocks comes Monday. If you are flying Saturday, check your airline's app before leaving for the airport.

Futures: shut for the weekend

U.S. equity futures stopped trading at 5 PM ET Friday and reopen Sunday evening, so there is no live overnight price to quote. These are the final settlements from Yahoo Finance, compared with the prior session's.

Futures percent changes are our arithmetic against Thursday's settle. The cash S&P 500 closed at 7,561.67, down 0.40% (our close report), because the futures session runs later than the cash close. Gold's contract is down about 5.5% from the $4,114.50 settle a week earlier, and last week's slide is covered in our gold report.

The 10-year Treasury yield ended Friday at 5.15%, up from 5.10%. Bitcoin, which trades around the clock, was $68,249 at 9:05 PM ET, down 2.7% from its level 24 hours earlier, per Coinbase's stats feed.

Headlines to carry into Monday

• Nvidia. The stock fell about 2% Friday, extending a six-week losing run. Reuters and Bloomberg reported tonight that Jensen Huang clashed with interim CEO Colette Kress, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the real question is whether Nvidia knew its client, per CNBC. Lutnick's Senate testimony is set for Dec. 10 (our update). Nvidia reports Tuesday.
• Iran. Iran and the U.S. gave conflicting accounts of a drone and radar incident in Bahrain, and neither is independently confirmed (our War Room report). Oil is the instrument to watch Sunday night.

At Tuesday's open

October retail sales are due Tuesday (forecast +0.2%, against +0.8% in September), then building permits Wednesday and jobless claims Thursday, per our economic calendar. The next Fed decision is Dec. 9.

Sources: CNBC, Wall Street Journal (headline), Yahoo Finance, Coinbase, U.S. Treasury, Reuters and Bloomberg (headlines). Quotes may be delayed. This is market information, not investment advice.