Stock futures are mixed Friday as investors digest a flurry of earnings reports from financial institutions and a closely watched inflation report.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each up less than 0.1%, while those linked to the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.2%. The major indexes, which are slightly higher for the week, closed lower Thursday after closely watched data on consumer prices and jobless claims painted a mixed picture of the economy.
Banking stocks were on the move in premarket trading after the release of quarterly results, as the earnings reporting season kicks into high gear. Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) were more than 3% higher, while JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK) were each up 1% ahead of the opening bell.
Tesla (TSLA) shares were down nearly 7% after the electric vehicle maker unveiled its Cybercab robotaxi, as well a larger Robovan and a humanoid robot, at a highly anticipated event late Thursday.
Other large-cap technology stocks were mixed in premarket trading. Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) inched higher, while Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL) fell slightly.
Producer price index data released this morning came in largely as expected, and market participants will turn their attention to the latest consumer sentiment reading, which comes out at 10:00 a.m. ET. Investors are keeping close tabs on data as they seek further confirmation that the economy is on sound footing, while also looking for clues about how aggressive the Federal Reserve will be as it cuts interest rates.
On Thursday, the consumer price index showed that inflation in September was hotter than expected while weekly jobless claims were higher than economists anticipated. The Fed has a dual mandate to promote price stability and maximum employment, and Thursday’s data points were bad news for the Fed on both fronts.
The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is correlated with expectations around interest rates, was up slightly to 4.10% on Friday. The yield jumped above 4% earlier this week for the first time in two months as market expectations for big rate cuts by the Fed faded after last Friday’s stronger-than-expected jobs report for September.
Crude oil futures, which have been volatile amid concerns that conflict in the Middle East could disrupt oil supplies, were down about 1%. Gold futures were up about 1% at around $2,660 an ounce, while bitcoin gained more than 2% to $61,200.