U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Friday as megacap tech and chip stocks lost ground, with investors awaiting manufacturing and services sectors surveys for more clues on the health of the world's largest economy.
Friday's session will also mark the expiry of quarterly derivatives contracts tied to stocks, index options and futures, also known as "triple witching".
Market Snapshot
At 8:20 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 8 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 7 points, or 0.13%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 26 points, or 0.13%.
Pre-Market Movers
Microsoft declined slightly Thursday but not as much as the 3.5% drop in shares of Nvidia, which allowed software giant Microsoft to again take the crown as world’s most valuable company. Microsoft finished Thursday with a market value of $3.31 trillion, better than Nvidia’s $3.22 trillion. Nvidia’s fall on Thursday mirrored that of other chip stocks as investors took profits in high-flying tech shares.
In premarket trading, Microsoft was down 0.1% to $445.31, Nvidia declined 1.4%, and Apple, the third-most-valuable company, rose 0.5%. Analysts at Citi raised their price target on Microsoft to $520 from $495 and maintained their Buy rating.
Trump Media & Technology Group was rising 0.5% in premarket trading. The parent company of former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform fell 15% on Thursday and has declined for five straight trading sessions, losing 34% over that span. The Securities and Exchange Commission this week signed off on the company’s registration statement and on the resale of shares and warrants.
Sarepta Therapeutics surged 37% after saying the Food and Drug Administration approved an expansion to the indications for Elevidys, the company’s treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Sarepta said the drug was approved for ambulatory and non-ambulatory people, who are at least 4 years old, and with a confirmed mutation in the DMD gene.
Gilead Sciences was rising 4.5% in premarket trading, extending Thursday’s gain of 8.5%, after the biopharmaceutical company said a Phase 3 trial of its twice-yearly HIV prevention treatment was found to be 100% effective.
CarMax reported first-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates but comparable-store used unit sales fell 3.8% in the period. Shares of the used-car retailer rose 1.3%.
Market News
SoftBank Boss Regrets Nvidia Stake Sale, Calling It "the Fish That Got Away"
SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son regrets selling Nvidia shares five years ago, before the chip giant rode the artificial intelligence wave to become one of the world's most valuable companies.
Son, who has made some of the most successful tech investments in recent times, at SoftBank's annual shareholder meeting said it's "frustrating to remember the ones I missed," as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
Canada Said to Be Eyeing Tariffs on Chinese EVs
Canada is planning new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicle imports, in line with the latest actions by the U.S. and European Union, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
While a final decision is yet to be made, the Canadian government is expected to announce public consultations on potential tariffs soon.
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