Stock futures were slightly higher on Friday, following the worst session in more than a year for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Futures tied to the 30-stock Dow were up by 59 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.3% each. During Thursday’s session, chipmaker Nvidia added more than 9%, propelled by strong guidance in addition to an earnings beat and a 10-for-1 stock split. Nvidia has become a key bellwether for the broader market, and it is the de facto leader of the so-called “Magnificent Seven.” The rise in the artificial intelligence darling did not help the market, however, with more than 400 stocks in the S&P 500 closing lower. The broad market index lost 0.74%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.39%. The Dow suffered a 1.53% decline for its worst session since March 2023, weighed down by a 7.6% drop in Boeing. “Markets tend to take breather heading into a long holiday weekend,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. “The Fed minutes provided the catalyst and not even Nvidia could refocus markets on the positives.” Indeed, at their latest meeting, central bank policymakers had expressed worries over the lack of progress in tamping down inflation. Robust economic data on further dented investors’ hopes for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Demand for durable goods was much higher than expected in April, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Orders for long-lasting items such as appliances, cars and airplanes was rose 0.7% for the month, slightly below the 0.8% increase in March but far better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for a 1% decline. Excluding transportation items, orders still accelerated 0.4%. However, new orders were flat excluding defense. May services and manufacturing data also surpassed forecasts from economists, according to purchase manager surveys from S&P Global released Thursday. Weekly jobless claims numbers on Thursday also signaled that any weakening in labor market demand may have stalled. To that end, the S&P 500 is tracking for a weekly loss of 0.7%, while the Dow is on pace to drop about 2.4%. The Nasdaq is the outperformer, with a modest gain of 0.3%. The Dow is set to snap a five-week winning streak and the S&P 500 to break a four-week positive streak as concern the Fed won’t cut interest rates this summer overshadowed Nvidia’s blockbuster report. After some strong economic and labor data this week, Goldman pushed its forecast for the Fed’s first rate cut back to September from July. “Inflation is likely to be much improved by September, but hardly perfect, and still at a year-on-year rate that makes cutting a less than obvious decision,” wrote Goldman economist David Mericle. U.S. Treasury yields rose Friday on the back of better-than-expected economic data. The 10-year Treasury yield was higher at 4.478%, while the 2-year Treasury yield increased to 4.9375%. Hong Kong stocks led losses in Asia Pacific on Friday after Wall Street tumbled overnight on rate worries, while investors also digested inflation data from Japan. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.71%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 dropped 1.11% to end at 3,601.48. In South Korea, the Kospi ended 1.26% lower at 2,687.60, dragged by heavyweight Samsung Electronics, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 0.85% to close at 839.41. The Nikkei 225 slid 1.17% to end at 38,646.11, while the broad-based Topix fell 0.44% to close at 2,742.54. Investors assessed April inflation from Japan for clues on the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy moves. Japan’s core inflation — which strips out fresh food and energy — eased to 2.2% from 2.6% in March, in line with expectations. Headline inflation slowed to 2.5%, down from March’s 2.7% figure. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 also ended 1.08% lower at 7,727.60. Crude oil futures fell to three-month lows on Friday and are heading to a weekly loss as the summer driving season gets underway with the Memorial Day holiday. U.S. crude oil hit an intraday low of $76.15, the lowest level since Feb. 26. Global benchmark Brent fell to $80.65, the lowest level since Feb. 8. The two benchmarks are on pace for a weekly loss of about 4% and 3%, respectively. West Texas Intermediate July contract: $76.67 a barrel, down 19 cents, or 0.25%. Year to date, U.S. oil is up 7%. Brent July contract: $81.13 a barrel, down 23 cents, or 0.26%. Year to date, the global benchmark is up 5.3%. Gold prices rose on Friday, but were headed for their first weekly fall in three as expectations for interest rate cuts began to fade following the hawkish tone adopted in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest minutes. Spot gold rose 0.54% to $2,340.90 per ounce, after earlier hitting its lowest since May 9. U.S. gold futures were up about 0.2% at $2,342.5.
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