After moving sharply higher over the past few sessions, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.
Traders may take a step back to digest the recent rally by the markets, which has seen the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 surge back to their best closing levels since the day President Donald Trump initially announced his “reciprocal tariff” plan.
Conflicting news on the trade front may also keep some traders on the sidelines, as Trump has refuted China’s claims that the two countries have not held any trade negotiations.
“They had a meeting this morning,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “It doesn’t matter who ‘they’ is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning, and we’ve been meeting with China.”
Trump’s comments come as a report from Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter said China’s government is considering suspending its 125 percent tariff on some U.S. imports due to the economic costs of the tit-for-tat trade war on certain industries.
Among individual stocks, shares of Intel (INTC) are plunging by 7.4 percent in pre-market trading after the semiconductor giant reported better than expected first quarter results but provided disappointing guidance for the current quarter.
Biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences (GILD) may also come under pressure after reporting first quarter earnings that exceeded estimates but weaker than expected revenues.
On the other hand, shares of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) are jumping by 3.2 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported first quarter results that exceeded expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
Shortly after the start of trading, the University of Michigan is due to release its revised reading on consumer sentiment in the month of April. The consumer sentiment index for April is expected to be unrevised from a preliminary reading of 50.8, which was down from 57.0 in March.
Adding to the strong gains posted in the two previous sessions, stocks moved sharply higher during trading on Thursday. The Nasdaq showed a particularly strong move to the upside, reflecting strength among tech stocks.
The major averages ended the session just off their best levels of the day. The Nasdaq spiked 457.99 points or 2.7 percent to 17,166.04, the S&P 500 surged 108.91 points 2.0 percent at 5,484.77 and the Dow jumped 486.83 points or 1.2 percent to 40,093.40.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.9 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 0.3 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.5 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.2 percent.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slumping $0.89 to $61.90 a barrel after rising $0.52 to $62.79 barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after surging $54.50 to $3,348.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are tumbling $39.80 to $3,308.80 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 143.39 yen versus the 142.63 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1356 compared to yesterday’s $1.1390.
Business News
U.S. Stocks May Lack Direction Following Recent Rally
2025-04-25 12:53:04
