Nasdaq 100 futures led Wall Street higher on Friday, putting the tech-heavy index on track for weekly gains. A third straight daily drop in oil prices eased inflation worries, while investors closed out a week shaped by a Fed rate hike and fresh doubts over AI spending.
Futures point to broad gains
At 4:50 a.m. ET, Nasdaq 100 E-minis rose 166.25 points, or 0.56%, leading the pack. Dow E-minis added 83 points, or 0.16%, and S&P 500 E-minis gained 21.5 points, or 0.28%. The moves set up the Nasdaq 100 for weekly gains as the week's trading drew to a close.
Friday also brought the quarterly expiry of stock, index-option and futures contracts known as "triple witching," which can lift trading volume and add to volatility.
Oil's third daily drop eases inflation pressure
Crude fell for a third straight day on Friday, with Brent and US West Texas Intermediate futures each slipping nearly 2%, even as Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border. The declines eased concern over price pressures, since the Middle East supply shock has been one of investors' biggest worries on the inflation front.
Fed hike and earnings-bubble talk frame the week
The gains rounded out a busy week in which investors digested an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve and weighed Chair Kevin Warsh's comments for clues on the path of borrowing costs. With earnings season still a month away, commentary from top executives at a string of conferences this week gave markets an early read on corporate health.
Goldman Sachs chief US equity strategist Ben Snider addressed concern that strong S&P 500 profit growth points to an "earnings bubble." According to Reuters: "our base case is for S&P 500 earnings growth to decelerate, not collapse" in the coming years, he wrote. Investors also reassessed their outlook for AI demand this week after top industry executives urged a slowdown in the technology's development, though there is little clarity yet on what such a slowdown would look like.
Big Tech mixed, Xenon shares tumble
Big Tech shares were mixed, with Alphabet and Nvidia up about 2% and 1%, respectively. Apple dipped 0.2% and was the only decliner among the Magnificent Seven group of stocks. Elsewhere, Xenon Pharmaceuticals tumbled nearly 28% premarket after it temporarily paused enrollment in tests for its experimental depression drug following reports of side effects.
Source: Reuters via Investing.com
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