Stock futures were moving mostly lower on Friday, with tech stocks set to lead the way south after disappointing results from industry giants Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc.
Investors are awaiting key inflation data, as well as more results from major energy companies such as Exxon Mobil Inc.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rose 614.46 points, or 1.9%, to 33,916.39, the S&P 500 SPX gained 103.54 points, or 2.5%, finishing at 4,287.50. The Nasdaq Composite COMP climbed 382.59 points, or 3.1%, closing at 12,871.53, following a brief foray into negative territory.
The Dow and S&P 500 marked their best daily percentage climbs since March 9, while the Nasdaq saw its best day since March 16, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Friday marks the last trading day of April, which is on the verge of being the worst month for the S&P 500 — down 5.3% — since March 2020. Down 9.4%, the Nasdaq is also facing its worst monthly return since that pandemic low, according to FactSet.
The month has been consumed by worries on several fronts, including the U.S. economy as well as China’s — as that country sees climbing COVID-19 cases — and also Russia’s continued war in Ukraine.
“The petrified tail-chasing we have seen this week as equity markets swing from ‘we’re all doomed, get me out,’ to ‘I don’t want to miss the absolute bottom of the stock market, get me in’ is perhaps indicative of the state of confusion out there,” Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda, told clients in a note.
Tech stocks, whose earnings have dominated the week, are expected to drive much of the action on Friday. Apple Inc. AAPL stock fell in late trading after the tech giant topped earnings and set a revenue record, but warned of billions in added costs from supply-chain woes.
And Amazon.com Inc. AMZN reported its first loss in seven years and executives said it would look to cut costs. Those shares also fell in late trading.
Chevron Corp. CVX, Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, Honeywell International Inc. HON, AbbVie Inc. ABBV, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. BMY and Colgate-Palmolive Co. CL will round off a busy earnings week on Friday.
On the heels of Thursday’s weak U.S. growth data, investor will get an update on the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge — the core personal consumer expenditure price index for March, due at 8:30 a.m., along with personal income and consumer spending. That will be followed by the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for April.
The data will be scoured as investors gear up for next week’s two-day Fed meeting, which many expect will conclude with a 50 basis-point interest-rate increase.
Elsewhere, the dollar DXY was paring strength after Thursday’s massive rally, with the euro EURUSD and pound GBPUSD both clawing back lost ground, though the Japanese yen USDJPY continued to slide, a day after the Bank of Japan vowed to maintain a dovish policy stance.
Gold was also a notable gainer, up 1.4% to $1,918.50, while oil prices were also rising modestly. U.S. bond yields BX:TMUBMUSD10Y BX:TMUBMUSD02Y were edging lower.
Tesla shares opened higher Thursday then promptly fell. It isn't easy to find anything new spooking investors.
Barbara Kollmeyer is based in Madrid, where she leads MarketWatch’s pre-markets coverage of financial markets and writes the Need to Know column. She has worked in London and Los Angeles for MarketWatch previously. Follow her on Twitter @bkollmeyer.
