U.S. stocks are eyeing a tentative recovery ahead of the bell on Friday as investors weigh a new set of global tariffs amid concerns over artificial intelligence, rising oil prices and rising bond yields.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose about 0.5% and S&P 500 futures (ES=F) rose 0.2%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 (NQ=F) jumped 0.1% as Wall Street stocks tried to stabilize after Thursday’s sharp selloff led by large-cap technology companies.
The major indexes were on track for weekly losses after the Magnificent Seven stocks collectively lost nearly $800 billion in market value on Thursday amid a selloff driven by a surge in artificial intelligence spending from Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Tesla (TSLA). The technology sell-off extended to Asian markets, where South Korea’s KOSPI (^KS11) and Japan’s Nikkei (^N225) indexes fell.
President Trump’s latest set of global tariffs, targeting nearly all U.S. imports, went into effect overnight. The new Section 301 tariffs, which the administration hopes will better withstand legal scrutiny, would impose rates of 10% to 12.5% on the U.S.’s largest trading partners.
The White House has exempted some energy products from those tariffs as markets grapple with higher oil prices that threaten to undermine progress against inflation and send shockwaves throughout the economy.
Oil prices fell on Friday, with Brent crude futures falling 2% to trade below $99 a barrel. However, the international benchmark was set for a weekly increase after reaching $100 per barrel.
Economic data to watch will be the updated S&P Global Services and Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Indices for July, as well as new home sales. On the corporate front, companies reporting earnings include American Express (AXP), NextEra Energy (NEE) and Verizon Communications (VZ).