(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday, while Wall Street's main indexes slumped as investors remained cautious ahead of corporate activity investigations and rising geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia. It was poised to rise every week.
The benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow closed at a one-week high on Thursday, and AI powerhouse Nvidia continued to rise modestly on its quarterly forecast, but investors took comfort in solid economic data. I remembered. Nvidia fell 0.8% in premarket trading on Friday.
Market attention is now focused on the S&P Business Activity Survey, due out at 9:45 a.m. ET, which predicts that services will remain in expansion territory while manufacturing will continue to contract.
As of 5:42 a.m. ET, the Dow E-mini was down 82 points, or 0.19%, the S&P 500 E-mini was down 16 points, or 0.27%, and the Nasdaq 100 E-mini was down 81.25 points, or 0.39%.
Wall Street's major indexes end the week higher as sentiment remains strong about the positive impact Donald Trump's tax and tariff policies could have on businesses after his presidential election victory. I'm on track.
Small-cap futures rose 0.1%, with the Russell 2000 index on track to rise 2% for the week.
But expectations for the Fed's decision in December have recently oscillated between pauses and rate cuts as investors weigh the impact of President Trump's policies on price pressures.
There is a 59.1% chance that the central bank will cut borrowing costs by 25 basis points, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Comments from US Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman will also be analyzed later in the day.
Markets were also focused on missile exchanges between Ukraine and Russia, after both countries lowered their threshold for nuclear retaliation earlier in the week. Energy stocks are the most sensitive to geopolitical risks, rising more than 2% this week.
Among the top gainers, Gap soared 14.7% after Old Navy's parent company, Gap, raised its annual sales forecast and said the holiday season was off to a “strong start.”
Alphabet fell 0.4% and Amazon.com fell 0.2%.
Shares fell on Thursday after prosecutors said Google's parent company has a monopoly over online search, while Europe said it would launch an investigation next year into whether Amazon favors its own branded products in online marketplaces. There were also reports.
Cryptocurrency stocks were mixed, with Bitcoin trading below $100,000. MicroStrategy increased 2%, while Riot Platforms decreased 0.5%.
There has been speculation as to who could become Treasury Secretary in the Trump administration, with reports suggesting the president-elect will appoint Kevin Kevin, with the understanding that he could later become Federal Reserve Chairman. He reportedly floated the idea of appointing Mr. Warsh.
(Reporting by Johan M. Cherian in Bangalore; Editing by Krishna Chandra Elli)
