S&P 500 futures were near flat on Friday, but the major U.S. averages remained on pace to post weekly gains. Futures connected to the broad index inched down just 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures lost 0.2%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 35 points, or 0.1%. Nvidia, the buzzy artificial intelligence stock that reported earnings on Wednesday, fell 0.5% in the premarket. Meta Platforms and Alphabet were also lower. Those moves come after a positive day on Wall Street. The Dow rose more than 400 points, while the S&P 500 added 0.5%. On the other hand, the Nasdaq Composite ticked only marginally higher. All three major averages are on track for a positive week, led by the Nasdaq Composite’s gain of 1.56%. That’s a change from last week, when Wall Street’s postelection rally stalled. “I think markets are finally finding their footing for two reasons: One is recovery from that postelection hangover after the first week, and [two is] reaction to Nvidia’s earnings,” Nuveen CIO Saira Malik said on “Closing Bell.” Earnings reports were driving market action in extended trading. Shares of Gap jumped 15% after the company beat earnings estimates and hiked its full-year sales guidance. However, Intuit slid more than 3% even after its quarterly report exceeded expectations on the top and bottom lines. On Friday, investors will get a look at preliminary purchasing managers index reports for November, as well as an updated consumer sentiment reading. Investors will also keep an eye on bitcoin, which is trading just under the long-awaited milestone of $100,000. U.S. Treasury yields were lower Friday as investors weighed mixed economic data and assessed the state of the economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell by nearly 5 basis points to 4.384%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last trading at 4.326% after dipping by more than 2 basis points. Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Friday, tracking a rally on Wall Street that saw the S&P log gains for a fourth straight day. The exceptions were Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, which fell 2.2% in its last hour of trade, and mainland China’s CSI 300, which widened losses to 3.1% to close at 3,865.7. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 0.68% to close at 38,283.85, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.51% to end at 2,696.53. South Korean blue-chip Kospi index added 0.83% to 2,501.24 while small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.54% to finish at 677.01. Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 eked out gains of 0.85% to close at 8,393.8. Oil prices held steady on Friday, on track for a weekly rise of 5%, as the Ukraine war intensified and Chinese imports were set to increase in November. Brent crude futures climbed 33 cents, or 0.44%, to $74.56 a barrel by 1008 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.39%, to $70.37 per barrel. Both contracts are set for gains of 5% this week, the strongest weekly rise since late September, as Moscow steps up its Ukraine offensive after Britain and the United States allowed Kyiv to strike Russia with their weapons. Gold prices rose over 1% to hit a two-week peak on Friday, heading for the best weekly performance in more than a year, buoyed by safe-haven demand as Russia-Ukraine tensions intensified. Spot gold jumped 1.3% to $2,703.05 per ounce, hitting its highest since Nov. 8. U.S. gold futures gained 1.1% to $2,705.30. Bullion rose despite the U.S. dollar hitting a 13-month high, while bitcoin hit a record peak and neared the $100,000 level. “With both gold and USD (U.S. dollar) rising, it seems that safe-haven demand is lifting both assets,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
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