U.S. stock futures edged up on Friday after closing higher on Thursday, with all the major indexes gaining as investors kept a close watch on the Iran war developments.
The U.S. and Iran have reportedly reached an agreement to extend the ongoing ceasefire by 60 days, but it is currently awaiting final approval from President Donald Trump.
The agreement would allow traffic to flow uninterrupted through the Strait of Hormuz while the two sides negotiate the future of Iran's nuclear program.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yields stood at 4.461%, and the two-year bond was at 4.035%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 98.9% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged during June's meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.16% |
| S&P 500 | 0.10% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.08% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.15% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were up in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.12% at $755.64, while the QQQ was up 0.08% to $736.22.
Stocks In Focus
Dell
- Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) surged nearly 40% in Friday's pre-market session after the company reported an 88% year-over-year surge in revenue to $43.84 billion, which is the company's fastest revenue growth in eight years.
- Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that DELL maintains a strong price trend in the long, medium, and short terms, with a strong momentum rank.
Agilent
- Agilent Technologies Inc.'s (NYSE:A) first-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates, with revenue coming in at $1.84 billion, higher than the estimated $1.80 billion. Agilent Technologies shares surged over 18% to $136.71 in the pre-market session.
- Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that A maintains a weak price trend in the long term but strong trends in the short and medium terms, with a healthy growth rank.
Costco
- Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) reported mixed third-quarter earnings, with earnings per share of $4.93 coming in slightly below the consensus estimate of $4.98, while revenue of $70.53 billion beat the $69.81 billion estimate. Costco shares fell 0.42% in pre-market trading to $990.98.
- Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that COST maintains a strong price trend in the long, medium and short terms, with a moderate value rank.
Hewlett Packard
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE:HPE) shares surged nearly 20% pre-market after Dell's blowout first-quarter results turned Wall Street bullish about rival HPE's prospects ahead of its second-quarter results next week.
- Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that HPE maintains a strong price trend in the long, medium and short terms, with a weak growth rank.
Snowflake
- Snowflake Inc.'s (NYSE:SNOW) first-quarter results showed that revenue grew 33% year-over-year to $1.39 billion, while EPS stood at $0.39. The company also announced a multi-year $6 billion spending commitment with Amazon Web Services. Snowflake shares were up 1.38% to $242.5 in pre-market trading.
- Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that HPE maintains a strong price trend in the long, medium and short terms, with a healthy momentum rank.
Cues From Last Session
Health care, information technology and consumer discretionary posted the biggest gains on Thursday. However, utilities, consumer staples and real estate bucked the overall market trend, ending the session lower.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Dow Jones | 0.05% | 50,668.97 |
| S&P 500 | 0.06% | 7,563.63 |
| Nasdaq Composite | 0.91% | 26,917.47 |
| Russell 2000 | 0.57% | 2,936.57 |
Insights From Analysts
ING Think's Chief International Economist, James Knightley, on Friday stated that the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, was not as hot as feared.
However, he added that this will do little to deter the increasingly hawkish bias of policymakers.
"Consumer spending power is coming under increasing pressure with rising energy costs forcing households to save less to maintain lifestyles," Knightley said in a recent note.
He also pointed to the downward revision in the first-quarter (Q1) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimate, which was lowered to 1.6% from 2%. The downward revision was made due to consumer spending coming in softer than previously estimated, as well as a larger drag from inventories.
"The combination of softer inflation and weaker growth has seen a muted reaction, with Treasury yields 3-4bp lower across the curve, but Middle East headlines continue to drive the narrative with the data taking a back seat at the moment," he added.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Friday:
- Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is scheduled to deliver a speech in South Korea, followed by an address by Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly is set to appear for a TV interview.
- Additionally, Friday will also see the release of the advanced U.S. trade balance in goods for April, advanced retail and wholesale inventories by 8:30 a.m. ET.
- Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson are scheduled to give speeches before the opening bell.
Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude oil futures were trading slightly lower in the early New York session by 0.27% to hover around $88.66 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar surged by 0.64% to hover around $4,524.800 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $5,595.46 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.06% higher at the 99.0830 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.08% higher at $73,325.46 per coin, as per the last 24 hours.
Asian markets closed mixed on Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, and Australia’s ASX 200 indices surged, while China's CSI 300 and India's Nifty 50 declined. European markets were mixed in early trade.
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