Stock futures fell on Friday as major U.S. banks kicked off the corporate earnings season. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down by 122 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively. JPMorgan Chase shares were down 2.2% after the banking giant posted its first-quarter results. The bank said net interest income, a key measure of what it makes through lending activities, could be a little short of what Wall Street analysts are expecting in 2024. CEO Jamie Dimon also warned about persistent inflationary pressures weighing on the economy. Wells Fargo shares were flat after reporting its latest quarterly figures. Citigroup is slated to report. The reports come a day after a sharp rebound for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite as tech shares led a comeback from Wednesday’s inflation-fueled sell-off. On Thursday, Nasdaq gained 1.68% to close at a record, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.74%. The 30-stock Dow inched lower by 0.01%, posting its fourth straight losing day. Apple was among the Magnificent Seven names rallying Thursday. The iPhone maker jumped 4.3% after Bloomberg News reported the company’s plans to overhaul its Mac products with new artificial intelligence-focused chips. Apple had its best day since May 2023. AI darling Nvidia also popped 4.1%, and Amazon leapt to an all-time high before closing up 1.7%. Going forward, the AI tail wind will be key in determining which stocks lead the current bull run, said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “Today’s divergence between the Nasdaq and the Dow is pretty telling … it is still a bifurcated market with things being driven by AI.” he told CNBC. “That’s what you’re looking for going forward, that’s what you have to have to be sustainable.” Thursday’s tech-centric rally curtailed the S&P 500′s weekly losses, as it’s now down 0.1% for the period. The Nasdaq is on pace to close the week 1.2% higher. The Dow is the underperformer, pacing for a 1.1% decline week to date. U.S. Treasury yields declined on Friday as investors considered the state of the economy after the release of inflation data and weighed the path ahead for interest rates. At 7:08 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by over 5 basis points at 4.524%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 4.914% after falling by nearly 5 basis points. The Treasury yields were still up sharply for the week despite Friday’s decline. The benchmark 10-year was up more than 10 basis points in that time, while the 2-year has risen more than 15 basis points. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday after an inflation-fueled selloff in the previous session, with investor assessing economic data from Singapore and South Korea. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led losses in the region, tumbling about 2%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.81% to close at 3,475.84. The losses come as China’s exports for March fell more than expected, declining 7.5% compared to the 2.3% fall expected by economists polled by Reuters. This follows a weaker-than-expected rise in the country’s inflation on Thursday. South Korea’s March unemployment rate rose to 2.8%. The country’s benchmark Kospi index slid 0.93% and ended at 2,681.82, but the small-cap Kosdaq gained 0.28% and closed at 860.47 after South Korea’s central bank kept policy rates unchanged at 3.5%, a 15-year high. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.21% to 39,523.55, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.46% and ended at 2,759,64. The yen continued to weaken against the dollar, hitting as low as 153.29. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.33% to extend losses from Thursday and end at 7,788.1. Oil prices rose in early trade on Friday on heightened tensions in the Middle East, where Iran has promised to retaliate for a suspected Israeli air strike on its embassy in Syria, which could risk disruptions to supply from the oil producing region. Brent crude futures climbed 34 cents, or 0.38%, to $90.08 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 44 cents, or 0.51%, to $85.45, at 0033 GMT. Safe-haven gold scaled an all-time record peak on Friday and was poised to post a fourth straight weekly gain as geopolitical risks and economic concerns surrounding China attracted robust demand. Spot gold was up 0.9% at $2,394.87 per ounce as of 0934 GMT after hitting a record high of $2,400.35 earlier in the session. Prices were up nearly 3% for the week. U.S. gold futures gained 1.6% to $2,411.70.
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