Futures tied to Dow Jones Industrial Average were higher Friday after strong gains in value areas of the market pushed both the 30-stock index and the S&P 500 to fresh records. Dow futures added 121 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell about 0.5%. Chipmaker Broadcom fell 6% in premarket trading even after it beat fourth-quarter expectations and gave a strong forecast for the current quarter, saying AI chip sales look to double. Lululemon shares jumped 9% after the athletic apparel retailer announced that its CEO will step down at the end of January, following poor performance for the company over the past year. Investors on Thursday poured into cyclical stocks that are considered more sensitive to the economy, while taking profits in growth-oriented names tied to the artificial intelligence trade. The move comes after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates for the third time this year. The 30-stock Dow and S&P 500 closed at record levels in the previous session, while the Nasdaq Composite ended the day 0.3% lower as high-flying tech stocks such as Alphabet and Nvidia dropped. The Dow, which climbed 646 points, or 1.3%, was lifted by a 6% rise in Visa and solid gains in Nike and UnitedHealth Group. “The Dow had a great day and, if the trend continues, it could be the beginning of the broadening-out trade,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management. “The key to the bull market continuing is the rest of the market (the so called 493) rising even without the help of the Magnificent 7 — and if the baton can be passed and the rally can broaden out then we wouldn’t be surprised to see a rally into year end and into the beginning of next year.” This week, the S&P 500 is up 0.45% and the 30-stock Dow is up almost 1.6%. The Nasdaq is the laggard of the three major indexes with gains of less than 0.1%. Small-capitalization companies have outperformed their larger counterparts, meanwhile, with the Russell 2000 index up 2.7% this week after notching a fresh all-time high on Thursday. Asia-Pacific markets traded higher Friday, tracking Wall Street gains after two key benchmarks hit new records on the heels of the recent Federal Reserve decision to cut rates. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.37% to close at 50,836.55, while the Topix added 1.98% to end the trading day at 3,423.83. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.38% to 4,167.16, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.29% to 937.34. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 1.23% higher at 8,697.3. India’s Nifty 50 was up 0.6%. The rupee weakened to a record low of 90.55 against the dollar. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.75%, while the mainland’s CSI 300 rose 0.63% to 4,580.95. Oil prices inched lower on Friday and were on track for a weekly decline as investors focused on a supply glut and potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal, amid concerns over Venezuelan oil supply disruptions. Brent crude futures were down 19 cents, or 0.31%, to $61.09 a barrel at 1125 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 15 cents, or 0.26%, at $57.45. Both benchmarks fell by about 1.5% on Thursday. Gold prices rose to a seven-week high on Friday, bolstered by a soft dollar, expectations of interest rate cuts and safe-haven demand prompted by geopolitical turbulence, while silver hit a record high. Spot gold rose 0.7% to $4,311.73 per ounce by 0945 GMT, its highest level since October 21, and set for a 2.7% weekly gain. U.S. gold futures gained 0.7% to $4,343.50. The dollar hovered near a two-month low, and was on track for a third straight weekly drop, making bullion more affordable for overseas buyers.
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