Wall Street Dips in Premarket as Weekly Gains Hold Steady
Wall Street is poised to open with slight losses Friday, though the dip hasn’t derailed a strong rebound for markets this week.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.1%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.4%. Nasdaq futures edged down 0.1% as well. The decline follows three consecutive days of gains, driven by robust corporate earnings and rising optimism for potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Alphabet shares surged 5% in after-hours trading following a report that its first-quarter profit jumped 50%. The tech giant’s strong earnings arrive amid competitive and legal pressures and ongoing global trade tensions. Despite the rally, Alphabet stock remains down 16% for the year.
Conversely, Intel shares tumbled 6.8% premarket. While the chipmaker beat Wall Street’s quarterly expectations, its cautious outlook for 2025, citing persistent inflation, regulatory risk, and uncertain trade policies, rattled investors.
President Trump’s shifting tariff policies continue to inject volatility into the market. Many companies, despite posting solid earnings, have pulled or reduced forward guidance due to trade uncertainty.
Globally, European markets were mostly higher by midday. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.7%, Germany’s DAX added 0.4%, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 held steady following stronger-than-expected retail sales data for March.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 led gains with a 1.9% surge. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.9%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3%. China’s Shanghai Composite edged down 0.1%.
Chinese tech stocks climbed after reports that some U.S.-made chips had been quietly exempted from China’s 125% retaliatory tariffs. Lenovo gained 3.4%, and Baidu rose 3.9%, though Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation fell 2.8%.
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 2%, while India’s Sensex dipped 0.4% amid heightened tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. Australian markets were closed in observance of Anzac Day.
Elsewhere, oil prices slipped. U.S. benchmark crude fell 80 cents to $61.99 a barrel, while Brent crude declined 81 cents to $64.84. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar strengthened to 143.29 yen from 142.69, while the euro slipped to $1.1363 from $1.1391.
