(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday, recovering after closing lower in the previous session on signs of persistent inflation that reignited monetary policy caution ahead of a long weekend.
After soaring on Nvidia’s revenue guidance and a 10-to-1 stock split in early trading Thursday, Wall Street’s major indexes are trading lower after economic data pointing to rising price pressures dented bets on rate cuts this year .
“Recent comments from Fed officials and stronger-than-expected PMI data resulted in a pullback in expectations about the Fed’s austerity path,” OCBC strategists said in a note.
“These developments reinforced the view that markets remain sensitive to data. The data also served as a reminder that the current high-for-longer interest rate environment could persist for an extended period.”
Investor focus now shifts to more economic data, including April durable goods and the final consumer sentiment report from the University of Michigan, along with comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller – all scheduled for that day.
Traders expect the US central bank to cut interest rates by 36.5 basis points by the end of the year.
The blue-chip Dow posted its biggest single-day drop since March 2023 on Thursday, while the benchmark S&P 500 posted its worst session in more than three weeks. Both indexes were set for weekly losses after four straight weeks of gains.
Nvidia shares were up 0.5% before the market, after rising more than 9% a day earlier, to close above the key $1,000 mark and add some $218 billion to its market value.
Reuters reported that the company’s most advanced AI chip, developed for China, got off to a weak start as abundant supply kept its price below Huawei’s rival chip.
Other mega-cap stocks, including Apple, Alphabet and Meta Platforms, also rose between 0.4% and 0.7%.
The US stock market is closed on Monday for Memorial Day.
At 5:33 a.m. ET, the Dow e-minis were up 50 points, or 0.13%, the S&P 500 e-minis were up 12.75 points, or 0.24%, and the Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 40 points , or 0.21%.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved applications from Nasdaq, CBOE and NYSE to list exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to ether prices, potentially paving the way for products to begin trading later this year. However, the ProShares Ether Strategy ETF fell 3.6% after rising more than 22% so far this week.
Workday fell 12.3% after the HR software provider lowered its annual subscription revenue forecast.
(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
