Wall Street Futures dwindle after record session
The U.S. index futures took a break on Friday after the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and other stock markets closed at record highs the previous day on the back of positive economic and earnings data. Netflix's outstanding profit also failed to spark enthusiasm.
At 6:57 am. S&P E-minis rose 2 points or 0.03% at 6:57 a.m. ET. 69,586 contracts were traded. Nasdaq E-minis rose 12.5 points or 0.05% and Dow E Minis gained 12 points or 0.03%.
Wall Street continued its winning streak overnight. The S&P 500, and Nasdaq both set new records after positive data on retail sales, and unemployment claims indicated a healthy U.S. economic. The data allows the Federal Reserve to take a breather and assess the inflationary impact of U.S. Tariffs.
The impressive quarterly results of corporate giants such as PepsiCo, United Airlines and chip maker TSMC also boosted technology stocks.
Netflix's revenue forecast for the year was boosted by the success of the "Squid Game". The streaming giant's stock fell 1.6% during premarket trading. It is up 43% in the last year.
3M's stock rose by 3.2% as the industrial giant raised its profit forecast for the full year. Cost-cutting and efforts to concentrate on high-margin items pay off.
The economy will be closely watched to see if President Donald Trump's new tariff measures have any impact. The Fed has indicated that it will keep interest rates at current levels until it can see clearer evidence of how higher import taxation is affecting inflation.
According to CME's FedWatch, traders now place the odds at 56.3% for a rate reduction in September, and a move in July is almost off the table.
The data this week supports the Fed's wait-and-see position. Tariffs have a percolating effect on consumer prices, but are not preventing households from spending more money, said Kenneth Broux of Societe Generale's corporate research and rate department.
Investors also awaited the preliminary reading of July consumer sentiment data, which was released later that day.
Christopher Waller, the Federal Reserve Governor, said on Thursday he was backed by a tame inflation and mounting economic risks to cut interest rates this month. He also downplayed concerns that tariffs would fuel price increases that will last.
LSEG data shows that, as the second quarter earnings season begins, 36 S&P500 companies have already reported early results. More than 80% of these companies' earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations.
Investors are navigating a tangle of mixed signals – robust retail sales, a spike up in consumer inflation and a stalling in producer prices in June.
The price of cryptocurrency stocks increased after the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to develop a regulatory structure for cryptocurrencies.
Robinhood Markets, Coinbase Global COIN.O, and Bitfarms all saw gains of 2.5% to 2.7%. Hut 8 also gained 1%, and Hut8 rose by 3.7%.
Chevron is moving forward with its acquisition of Hess for $53 billion after winning a landmark court battle against Exxon Mobil. This was to gain access the biggest oil discovery in decades.
The shares of Chevron were up by 3% and Hess was up 7%. (Reporting from Pranav Kashyap, Bengaluru. Editing by Maju Sam)
(source: Reuters)
