U.S. stock index futures pointed to brighter start on Friday to wrap up a difficult week, buoyed by well-received results from megacap technology stock Amazon.com and the latest batch of spending and inflation data.
What’s happening
- Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, +0.09% rose 29 points, or 0.1%, to 32907.
- S&P 500 futures ES00, +0.49% gained 20 points, or 0.5%, to 4176.
- Nasdaq 100 futures NQ00, +0.91% increased 127 points, or 0.9%, to 14319.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell 252 points, or 0.76%, to 32784, the S&P 500 SPX declined 50 points, or 1.18%, to 4137, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP dropped 226 points, or 1.76%, to 12596.
Through Thursday, the S&P 500 has dropped by 2.1% this week. According to UBS, two-thirds of S&P 500 constituents have seen their share price fall since last Friday.
What’s driving markets
Amazon.com AMZN, -1.50% reported earnings that surpassed expectations which showed the company’s progress in lifting margins, both in its retail business and in cloud. Intel INTC, -0.94% also beat estimates. The earnings were another bright spot among the so-called “Magnificent Seven” companies after disastrous earnings from Tesla Inc. and Alphabet Inc., along with a weak report from Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.
“A combination of solid post-market U.S. tech (Amazon/Intel) earnings last night and less weak than expected industrial profits in China earlier this morning are helping lift global risk sentiment with stocks in all geographies trading in the green,” said Krupa Patel, head of international market intelligence at JPMorgan.
Investors also focused on the latest batch of PCE data, which includes the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. According to the PCE price index, the cost of goods and services rose a higher-than-expected 0.4% in September. Core inflation, meanwhile, was in line with expectations.
The data showed consumer spending rose a sharp 0.7% in September, reflecting signs of spending strength previously reflected by retail-sales data.
Investors will receive an update on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan later in the morning.
China reported that industrial profits grew 11.9% year-over-year in September.
The earnings news however wasn’t universally positive, with Ford Motor Co. F, -1.65% withdrawing guidance, and Enphase Energy ENPH, +1.94% becoming the latest solar company to issue a profit warning.
Crude-oil futures CL.1, +1.55% rose after a U.S. strike on Iran-related facilities in Syria.
U.S. stocks remain on track to finish the week in the red as the market’s streak of losses continues. The S&P 500 was set to fall for the sixth week in eight, according to FactSet.
Companies in focus
- Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.50% shares rose 5% in premarket trade after the e-commerce giant delivered a massive earnings beat.
- Intel Corp. stock INTC, -0.94% jumped 8% after the chipmaker beat expectations for its third quarter and delivered an upbeat forecast for the current quarter.
- Ford Motor Co. F, -1.65% dropped 4% after the automaker withdrew guidance, citing the pending agreement with the United Auto Workers, and revealed a $ 1.3 billion loss for its EV unit.
- Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, -0.91% lost 0.3% in premarket trading Friday, after the oil giant reported third-quarter profit and revenue that missed expectations as production fell, while free cash flow beat by a wide margin.
- Chevron Corp.’s stock CVX, -0.72% fell 1.4% premarket Friday, after the oil giant posted third-quarter profit that fell far short of estimates.