Stock futures were mixed on Friday after a record-setting session, with two of the three major benchmarks on pace for their third consecutive weekly advance. S&P 500 futures hovered just above the flatline, as Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.2%. But Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged lower, sliding 67 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 on Thursday hit an intraday all-time high of 7,816.70. The benchmark also closed at a record. The tech and communication services sectors were among the big winners in the index, rising roughly 1% each. “The market is appropriately bullish right now,” Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at Partners Group, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” in an interview, noting the strength in U.S. corporate earnings. With more than 90% of S&P 500 companies having posted second-quarter results, earnings growth from the year-earlier period is tracking around 50%, according to FactSet. Amoroso also noted that software has “rallied and rebounded … I think the market came to the realization that maybe we did not appropriately price in those risks.” Indeed, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) is up around 28% over the past six months after tumbling more than 24% in the first quarter. IGV climbed more than 3% on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are headed for their third straight weekly advances. Heading into Friday’s session, the former is up 0.5%, while the latter has advanced 0.4%. The Dow, meanwhile, is down 0.4% week to date. Investors on Friday shrugged off retail sales numbers for July, which showed an unexpected decline in the month. U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday after the U.S. said its naval blockade of Iranian ports could continue “indefinitely.” The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note—the key benchmark for U.S. government borrowing—rose 2 basis points to 4.661%. The 2-year Treasury note yield, which more closely tracks short-term Federal Reserve interest rate policy, rose over 1 basis point to 4.152%. The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield rose over 2 basis points to 5.237%. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.59% higher, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.42%. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.80%, and mainland China’s CSI 300 closed flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.06% in the last hour of trade on Friday. Oil prices rose early Friday after the U.S. said its naval blockade of Iranian ports could continue “indefinitely,” reigniting concerns over energy flows through the critical Strait of Hormuz. Brent futures, the international oil price benchmark, were 0.96% higher at $87.91 per barrel by 2:55 a.m. E.T., while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added 1.08% to reach $82.13. Both benchmarks dipped 2% in Thursday’s session but remain on track for weekly rises of around 4% following a sustained rally. Gold prices ​steadied on Friday ​after pulling back from a more than two-month high, as investors booked profits following a rally fuelled by softer U.S. inflation data and fading expectations for a ⁠Federal ‌Reserve rate hike in September. Spot gold was little ⁠changed at $4,351.45 an ounce after the contract fell 1.3% in the previous session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.3% to $4,407.70 per ounce. Bullion rallied to ‌its highest point since June 5 on Thursday. “Gold is barely holding onto a weekly advance, as markets indulge in some profit-taking following ​bullion’s mid-week spike to a two-month high,” said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Bybit.

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