Colin is an Associate Editor focused on tech and financial news. He has more than three years of experience editing, proofreading, and fact-checking content on current financial events and politics. He received his M.A. in journalism from The New School and his B.A. in history and political science from McGill University.
U.S. stock futures were mostly higher in premarket trading on Friday as tech stocks continued to rally on optimism about AI spending.
Futures contracts connected to the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.4% in recent trading, while S&P 500 futures advanced 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gave up earlier gains to trade marginally lower. The major indexes broke two-day losing streaks yesterday after strong results from chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM) and the announcement of a trade deal between the U.S. and Taiwan.
AI stocks continued to climb on Friday, with memory and data storage device makers leading the charge. Shares of Micron (MU), Sandisk (SNDK), and Western Digital (WDC) were all about 4% or more before the opening bell. Meanwhile, shares of power providers Constellation Energy (CEG) and Vistra (VST) declined amid reports the Trump administration plans to make an announcement today related to the strain data centers are putting on electricity grids, raising uncertainty for utilities investors.
Treasury yields were slightly higher Friday morning. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which impacts interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, was recently 4.19%, up from 4.18% at yesterday’s close. Treasury yields are flat for the week, with concerns about the independence of the Federal Reserve offsetting this week’s slightly better-than-expected inflation report.
Regional banks capped off the first week of fourth-quarter earnings season. Shares of PNC Financial (PNC) rose after the lender reported better-than-expected results driven by strong dealmaking and advisory fee growth. Regions Financial (RF) stock slipped after it posted disappointing results and guidance.
Oil futures rose on Friday, with the price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, rising 1.2% to $59.90 a barrel. Gold, which hit a record high earlier this week, was down 0.5% at $4,600 an ounce. Silver prices dropped sharply after a major run-up this week.
Bitcoin was little changed at $95,400, slightly off its highs from earlier in the week. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of hte greenback against a basket of global currencies, dipped 0.1% to 99.2.
