Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., December 11, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Stock futures were slightly higher on Friday, following the worst session in more than a year for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Futures tied to the 30-stock Dow were up by 57 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures ticked up by 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures inched higher by 0.2%.
During Thursday’s session, chipmaker Nvidia added more than 9%, propelled by strong guidance in addition to an earnings beat and a 10-for-1 stock split. Nvidia has become a key bellwether for the broader market, and it is the de facto leader of the so-called “Magnificent Seven.”
The rise in the artificial intelligence darling did not help the market, however, with more than 400 stocks in the S&P 500 closing lower. The broad market index lost 0.74%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.39%. The Dow suffered a 1.53% decline for its worst session since March 2023, weighed down by a 7.6% drop in Boeing.
“Markets tend to take breather heading into a long holiday weekend,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. “The Fed minutes provided the catalyst and not even Nvidia could refocus markets on the positives.” Indeed, at their latest meeting, central bank policymakers had expressed worries over the lack of progress in tamping down inflation.
Robust economic data on Thursday further dented investors’ hopes for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. May services and manufacturing data surpassed forecasts from economists, while initial jobless claims for the week ending May 18 came in at 215,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a reading of 220,000.
To that end, the S&P 500 is tracking for a weekly loss of 0.7%, while the Dow is on pace to drop about 2.4%. The Nasdaq is the outperformer, with a modest gain of 0.3%.
On Friday, traders will be watching for April’s durable goods report and May’s reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index.