Dow Futures Break High As Boeing Stocks Rise, But Technology Stocks Rattle At Week’s End

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Stock index futures were typically lower on Friday, with technology-related stocks expected to lead the way as bond yields continue to rise, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at record levels.

What do the main benchmarks do?

  • Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00,
    + 0.10%
    rose 63 points, or 0.2%, to 32,431.

  • S&P 500 futures ES00,
    -0.43%
    dropped 9.30 points, or 0.2%, to 3918.

  • Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00,
    -1.55%
    dropped 151.75 points, or 1.2%, to 12,887.25.

The Dow DJIA,
+ 0.17%
Thursday, up 188.57 points, or 0.6%, to 32,485.59, building on the previous session’s record, while the S&P 500 SPX,
-0.41%
registered its first record finish since February 12, rising 1% to 3,939.34. The Nasdaq Composite COMP,
-1.35%
jump 2.5%.

What drives the market?

A recovery in technology-related stocks drove stocks to rally on Thursday, but a renewed rise in government bond yields early Friday, with yields on the 10-year note TMUBMUSD10Y,
1,610%
jumping more than 8 basis points to trade above 1.61% would send growth-oriented stocks back down during the last session of the week.

Must know: This is how far the Nasdaq could fall if bond yields hit 2%

It has been a volatile week for stocks, including the Nasdaq, which posted more than 2% gain or loss in three sessions.

“We believe recent stock volatility is likely to persist as investors seek to balance growing optimism and growth with concerns about higher inflation,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, in a statement. note.

“But while we expect conditions to remain volatile, the most recent developments in three of the key market drivers – stimulus packages, pandemic news and inflation data – point to further stock gains,” he said.

President Joe Biden signed a COVID-19 aid package worth $ 1.9 trillion on Thursday. In a televised address Thursday evening, Biden pledged to make all adults eligible for vaccines by May 1.

The combination of aggressive budget spending and progress in vaccine introduction is seen as a stimulus for economic growth, but it can also fuel inflation, at least in the short term.

Analysts said technology stocks may also be vulnerable to pressure after China’s market regulator said on Friday it imposed fines on some of the country’s largest technology companies.

Bloomberg also reported that Biden’s records have some suppliers of Huawei Technologies Co. from China that it would impose stricter conditions on previously approved export licenses, excluding items for use in or with 5G devices.

Meanwhile, with US wholesale inflation for February, the producer price index came in, as expected, up 0.5%. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, prices rose 0.2% this month, from expectations for an increase of 0.3%, Econoday said. Year-on-year, the core PPI index was up 2.2% from last year versus 2% in the previous month.

The University of Michigan preliminary consumer confidence index for March is expected at 10 a.m. East. It is expected to rise to 78.9 from a February reading of 76.8.

Which companies is the focus on?

  • Shares of Ulta Beauty Inc.
    ULTA,
    -7.77%
    declined more than 8% in premarket trading after reporting lower sales and earnings in the fourth quarter year-on-year at the end of Thursday. It also announced that Chief Executive Mary Dillon will be replaced by President David Kimbell.

  • GoodRx Holdings Inc.
    GDRX,
    -11.06%
    stocks fell 4.8% after the healthcare company reported adjusted earnings above Wall Street expectations, but led by lower sales in the first quarter.

  • DocuSign
    DOCU,
    -3.79%
    were under pressure in premarket trading, even after the electronic authentication company released better-than-expected quarterly outlook in its most recent quarterly report.

  • Novavax
    NVAX,
    + 11.48%
    says the COVID vaccine is effective against variants of the deadly virus.

  • Shares of GameStop Corp.
    GME,
    + 7.12%
    rose 3.9% in Friday’s premarket trading, after falling 1.9% in the previous session, on an otherwise mixed morning for other meme stocks.

  • Boeing CoBA,
    + 1.75%
    has received an order from private investment firm 777 Partners to purchase 24 737 MAX planes with an option to purchase another 60, according to a Reuters report.

How are other assets doing?

  • The ICE US Dollar Index DXY, a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, rose 0.5%.

  • Oil futures traded slightly lower, with the US benchmark CL.1 falling less than 01% to $ 65.97 a barrel. Gold futures GC00 plummeted $ 18.70, or 1.1%, to trade at $ 1,703.90 an ounce on Comex.

  • The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe index SXXP was down 0.4% and the London FTSE 100 UKX was barely positive, up less than 0.1%.

  • In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI fell 2.2%, Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP fell 0.5%, China’s CSI 300 000 300,
    + 0.35%
    rose 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 index NIK rose 1.7%.

  • Bitcoin prices BTCUSD,
    -2.88%
    were down 4% at $ 55,506 trading on CoinDesk.

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