U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Friday after data showed personal consumption expenditure growth slowed in February, supporting hopes of a softer monetary policy approach from the Federal Reserve.
U.S. inflation measured by PCE index climbs 0.3% in February
12-month core PCE inflation rate drops to 4.6% from 4.7%
12-month PCE inflation rate slips to 5% in February from 5.3%
Market Snapshot
At 8:40 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 79 points, or 0.24%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 6 points, or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 18 points, or 0.14%.
Pre-Market Movers
Major technology and other growth stocks such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc fell about 0.2% in premarket trade on Friday as U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher.
Among specific stocks, Virgin Orbit Holdings tanked 45.3% premarket, a day after the rocket maker said it was cutting about 85% of staff because it had not been able to raise new investment.
U.S.-listed shares of Canadian software firm BlackBerry Ltd dropped 4.0% following disappointing results and outlook.
Rumble Inc jumped 14.6% after the video-sharing platform reported a surge in fourth-quarter revenue.
Market News
Tesla's Musk Planning to Visit China as Early as April
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is making plans to visit China as early as April and is seeking a meeting with China's Premier Li Qiang, two people with knowledge of planning for the trip told Reuters.
China is Tesla's second-largest market after the United States and its Shanghai plant is the electric carmaker's largest production hub.
OpenAI's ChatGPT Blocked In Italy: Privacy Watchdog
Italy's privacy watchdog said Friday it had blocked the controversial robot ChatGPT, saying the artificial intelligence app did not respect user data and could not verify users' age.
The decision "with immediate effect" will result in "the temporary limitation of the processing of Italian user data vis-a-vis OpenAI", said the Italian Data Protection Authority.
Virgin Orbit Stock to Lay off about 85% of Staff
Rocket maker Virgin Orbit Holdings on Thursday said it was laying off about 85% of staff.
About 675 employees will lose their jobs, and the company expects to take related charges of about $15 million, Virgin Orbit said in a regulatory filing.
The move was the result of "the company's inability to secure meaningful funding," the filing said.
Nikola Stock Falls As Share Sale Announced
Nikola announced a plan to sell $100 million in stock, along with a concurrent direct offering with an unnamed investor for another $100 million.
Nikola disappointed investors with its fourth-quarter revenue total in February, and projected that 500 or fewer vehicles will be produced this year.
Trump-Tied SPAC’s Shares Jump After Historic New York Charge
The criminal case against Donald Trump is providing a lift to the blank-check firm taking his media company public, as well as other stocks tied to the former president, as traders bet the news will drive traffic to conservative outlets.
Digital World Acquisition Corp., the special-purpose acquisition company merging with Trump Media, rallied as much as 19% in US premarket trading. Meanwhile, Phunware Inc., a software company that worked on Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, also jumped as much as 5.6% and Rumble Inc., the Peter Thiel-backed conservative video network, surged 19% after reporting results.
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