08:56 AM EST, 11/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were little changed before Friday's opening bell as traders returned from the Thanksgiving holiday ahead of a shortened trading session on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures and S&P 500 futures each increased 0.1% and Nasdaq futures were marginally up.

US stock markets will close early at 1 pm ET.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 0.2% at $72.92 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 0.7% higher at $69.22 per barrel.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.4% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.3% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.9% higher. UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.2%, while Germany's DAX index gained 0.4% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Nano Nuclear Energy ( NNE ) were 1.9% higher pre-bell after the company said late Wednesday it closed a $60 million private placement of common shares and warrants.

On the losing side, Applied Therapeutics ( APLT ) shares slumped 74% after the company said late Wednesday that the US Food and Drug Administration rejected the company's new drug application for govorestat for the treatment of classic galactosemia.