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US stock futures nudged higher on Friday after the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) vaulted to their latest records on fresh signs of strength in the US economy.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) inched up 0.1%. Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) were up 0.1%, while those on the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) also climbed 0.1%.
The tech-heavier indexes clinched records on Thursday, part of a record-setting run as Wall Street turned bullish in the second quarter. Investors were buoyed Thursday by a softening on jobless claims and stronger-than-expected retail sales, with little indication that President Trump’s tariffs are so far affecting consumer spending habits.
Read more: The latest on Trump’s tariffs
Meanwhile, earnings continue to roll in, and they have shown steady resilience in corporate America. Thursday’s highlight was Netflix (NFLX), which kicked off Big Tech earnings with an all-around beat while raising its full-year revenue forecast. Friday’s earnings highlights include 3M (MMM), American Express (AXP), and Charles Schwab (SCHW).
Read more: Full earnings coverage in our live blog
The major indexes are set for weekly wins, with this week’s drama involving Trump’s fury with Fed Chair Jerome Powell largely on the back burner. Powell sent a letter to Trump’s top budget official on Thursday, defending the Fed’s headquarters renovation project for which he has come under fire in recent days.
But already, the focus is turning to who could replace Powell next year and the additional dual mandate that person will face: keeping Trump happy while attempting to maintain the Fed’s independence.
LIVE 5 updates
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UK stocks seem to be reversing years of underperformance
Overseas investors are starting to warm up to the UK’s unloved stocks as a UK-US trade deal, lighter regulation, and cheap stocks deliver juicy returns versus the rest of Europe.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) has gained nearly 10% this year to hit record highs this week, beating the STOXX 600 (^STOXX), which is up 7.5%.
Reuters reports:
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Battery materials stocks jump after US lays out 93.5% graphite duty
Bloomberg reports:
Stocks of battery material makers climbed after the US announced it would impose preliminary anti-dumping duties of 93.5% on graphite imports from China.
Shares of Australian graphite miner Syrah Resources Ltd. (SYAAF) surged as much as 38%, while shares of South Korea’s Posco Future M Co. (003670.KS) climbed 24%. Novonix Ltd. (NVNXF), an Australian-listed company with a graphite production plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, surged 21%. Gains in these and other Asian stocks tracked earlier jumps in Canadian peers including Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. (NMG)
The Commerce Department issued the preliminary determination Thursday, and a final plan should be announced by Dec. 5. The US determined that China, which dominates the processing capacity of graphite, had been unfairly subsidizing the industry.
Graphite is a key raw material in the anodes of electric-vehicle batteries. About two-thirds of the material imported by the US still came from China last year.
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Netflix stock slips after a ‘solid’ report
Netflix (NFLX) shares are faltering in premarket trading, despite “solid” second quarter earnings.
The streamer delivered beats on both profit and sales, and upped its full-year revenue guidance in its report late Thursday.
Some on Wall Street had flagged Netflix’s lofty valuation going into the print, Yahoo Finance’s Allie Canal reports.
Bloomberg Intelligence senior media analyst Geetha Ranganathan told Yahoo Finance that the stock was priced to perfection heading into the report.
“It was a really solid print,” Ranganathan said in reaction to the earnings. “The big thing that investors were really focused on was commentary for the rest of the year, and they delivered there as well.”
Ranganathan also noted that while the operating margin was also solid, it was “maybe not spectacular.”
“I think investors were looking for something a little but more here,” she said. “So it was originally forecast at 29% for the full year operating margin — they just took that up a smidge to 29.5%. I think investors were looking somewhere in the range of 30%-31%.”
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Meta continues Apple-targeted AI hiring spree
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Trending tickers in after-hours trading
Netflix (NFLX)
Stock in the streamer dipped nearly 2% despite topping analyst expectations for both earnings and revenue in Q2. The streaming leader reported revenue of $11.08 billion, just above the $11.07 billion Wall Street had forecast. Investors may be reacting to the narrower-than-hoped revenue beat and looking ahead to guidance.
Norfolk Southern (NSC)
Share value in railroad operator Norfolk Southern soared 4.7% in after-hours trading following a report from WSJ that Union Pacific is in preliminary talks to acquire the railroad operator. There’s also discussion of a merger in the possible creation of what would be America’s largest railroad.
