THE S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set to open lower on Friday after strong gains in the previous session, as investors cheered the Federal Reserve sticking to its rate-easing stance and awaited commentary from Chair Jerome Powell later in the day.
All three main U.S. indexes hit fresh record closing highs on Thursday as chip stocks rallied after Micron Technology's upbeat forecast and the Fed signaled it was still on track for three interest-rate cuts this year.
Traders now see a 70% chance of the first rate cut hitting in June, from 56% at the start of this week, according to the CME's FedWatch Tool.
"With summer rate cuts now becoming somewhat more certain and a further recovery in bond yields looking unlikely, policymakers have provided fresh impetus to the bull market," said Raffi Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at XM.
Investors will also be closely monitoring commentary from a host of other central bankers expected later in the day for further cues on the central bank's monetary policy trajectory.
The blue-chip Dow ended Thursday less than 1% away from the 40,000-mark for the first time. Along with the benchmark S&P 500, the Dow was on track to its best weekly performance so far this year.
Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was set to notch its best week since mid-January.
At 08:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 4 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 5.25 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 48.25 points, or 0.26%.
Most rate-sensitive megacap growth and technology stocks eased in premarket trading.
Tesla led losses, down 4.0%, following a report that the EV maker has reduced car production at its plant in China.
Nevertheless, the EV maker and many of the other market leaders were set for strong weekly gains. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has gained nearly 3% so far this week.
Nike shed 6.2% after the world's largest sportswear maker warned that its revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025 would shrink by a low-single-digit percentage, as it scales back on franchises to save costs.
Lululemon Athletica forecasts annual revenue and profit below expectations as demand wanes for the apparel retailer's premium athleisure, mainly in North America, sending its shares tumbling 13.2%.
Social media platform Reddit lost 2.3% a day after its strong market debut.
FedEx jumped 11.5% after the company beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit and operating margin in the parcel delivery firm's largest unit, Express, rose 2.5% in the February fiscal quarter from 1.2% a year ago.
While most S&P 500 companies will not report on the current quarter until after mid-April, investors are likely to pay close attention to earnings that come earlier for clues on how the rest of the season will go. - Reuters
