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Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on June 26, 2026.
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U.S. stock futures edged lower early Friday after a strong Wall Street session that put the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite on track for weekly gains, while Asian technology stocks rallied Friday, tracking overnight strength in U.S. chipmakers.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.11% and 0.1%, respectively. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat.
Wall Street is coming off a winning session. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.3% on Thursday, while the S&P 500 gained 0.8%. The 30-stock Dow also closed higher by 0.3%.
Stocks rallied, aided by cooling oil prices after President Donald Trump said that Iran called to make a deal. Qatar and Pakistan are trying to bring Washington and Tehran back into negotiations, officials from the countries told MS Now.
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Friday, with South Korean equities leading gains in the region.
South Korea's Kospi jumped 4.6%, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 5.9%. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.5%, and the Topix added 0.5%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1.86%, while mainland China's CSI 300 gained 0.4%.
A rally in chipmakers helped bolster the major U.S. averages, with many investors remaining hopeful that strong earnings growth can help the stock market broaden out beyond tech and continue its upward advance.
The positive sentiment spilled over into Asian technology shares. Japan's SoftBank Group surged more than 11%, while chip equipment makers Advantest, Renesas Electronics and Tokyo Electron rose 3.9%, 3% and 4%, respectively.
In South Korea, Samsung Electronics gained 4.3%, Samsung SDI climbed 8.3%, LG Display advanced 4.4% and Seoul Semiconductor rose 5.9%. Memory chipmaker SK Hynix added 1.3% ahead of its U.S. market debut Friday stateside.
"I think it continues to be an earnings-led market," Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Thursday. "Everybody's looking for reasons to worry about it, whether it's AI fatigue or whatever. But the reality is, you can't beat earnings as long as they keep going up."
Investors are awaiting the U.S. listing of SK Hynix on Friday. The South Korea chipmaker, which exploded higher this year on the massive demand for memory, is pricing its American depository receipts at $149 each, according to Bloomberg, which cited a person familiar.
Traders will also be watching for second-quarter results from Delta Air Lines, due Friday morning.
Stocks are headed for a mixed week. As of Thursday's close, the Nasdaq Composite was higher by 1.5%, while the S&P 500 had gained 0.8%. The Dow alone was lower by 0.8%.
2 Hours Ago
Portfolio manager warns Fed's reactions to economic data could fuel Treasury volatility
Treasury market volatility is likely to increase as the Federal Reserve becomes more reactive to incoming economic data, Adam Marden, co-portfolio manager of the Dynamic Global Bond Strategy at T. Rowe Price, said in a note published late Thursday.
"We expect higher volatility at the front end, although the process is likely to be gradual. Recent funding-market episodes suggest the Fed remains sensitive to market functioning and may respond if pressures become more pronounced."
Marden also said that stronger nominal growth and reduced forward guidance from the Fed should keep rate swings elevated, rather than any single inflation report driving the market.
The 10-year Treasury yield was little changed at 4.541% on Friday.
—Lee Ying Shan
2 Hours Ago
Oil little changed as investors keep an eye on Middle East developments
Oil was little changed Friday, as investors assessed the latest developments in the Middle East.
Futures for international benchmark brent crude for September delivery and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for August both rose 0.1% to $76.40 and $72.22 per barrel, respectively, in choppy trading.
Signals that diplomatic efforts to address the U.S.-Iran conflict were ongoing have kept a lid on prices after they shot up following U.S. strikes on Iran in retaliation for Tehran targeting commercial tankers in the Hormuz Strait.
Traffic via the critical waterway slowed to 13 tankers on Wednesday compared with an average of 33 per day over the previous week, according to Matt Smith, director of commodity research at the energy intelligence firm Kpler.
"We think that the Iran is determined to control traffic," Eric Nuttal, partner and senior portfolio manager at Ninepoint said on CNBC's " Squawk Box Asia," adding that this will have a long-term impact on flows through the strait.
"I think, people's attention will soon look to, well, you know, global oil inventories are at the lowest levels in recorded history," Nuttal added.
— Justina Lee
4 Hours Ago
SoftBank Group surges 11% as Asian tech stocks track gains in U.S. chipmakers
Japanese and South Korean tech stocks surged on Friday, tracking a rally in U.S. chipmakers.
Japan's SoftBank Group advanced over 11%, while chip equipment makers Advantest and Renesas Electronics gained 3.9% and 3%, respectively. Tokyo Electron was up 4%.
Among other South Korean technology names, Samsung SDI up 8.3% and Seoul Semiconductor advancing 5.9%. Samsung Electronics was 4.3% higher. Display panel producer LG Display rose 4.4%.
Memory chip major SK Hynix added 1.3%, ahead of the trillion-dollar South Korean chipmaker's U.S market debut. The company has seen its stock soar more than sevenfold over the past year due to the global memory crunch.
— Justina Lee
4 Hours Ago
Hong Kong's Hang Seng and mainland China's CSI 300 rise
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.45%, while mainland China's CSI 300 gained 0.33% Friday.
Morgan Stanley said in a note Thursday that Hong Kong and Chinese equities had outperformed regional and global peers over the past week.
"Hong Kong and China have outperformed regional and global peers over the past week, while most other markets saw a sharp rise in volatility," Morgan Stanley said.
The brokerage added that while near-term volatility could persist, "near-term downside risk is diminishing," and investors underweight on China could use the pullback to accumulate quality stocks.
It reiterated that late July and August would be a "critical" period for a more sustainable recovery, citing improving e-commerce earnings, progress in AI commercialization and the expected absorption of July's IPO share-unlocking pressure.
—Lee Ying Shan
5 Hours Ago
SK Hynix shares rise ahead of Nasdaq debut
Shares of SK Hynix rose 5% at the open, before paring gains to 0.5% as the chip giant looks to make its Nasdaq debut Friday.
Tim Garratt, investment manager at Baillie Gifford, said SK Hynix remains well-positioned to benefit from a persistent imbalance between AI computing needs and memory capacity.
"Clearly there's been a huge backlog to catch up on and as a result SK Hynix has been sitting in the middle of that short-term pinch point, and it's just got tremendous momentum around the needs," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia."
Shares of domestic rival Samsung Electronics were up 2.16%.
— Lee Ying Shan
5 Hours Ago
Asia-Pacific markets open mostly higher; South Korea's Kospi jumps 3%
Asia-Pacific markets opened mostly higher Friday, with South Korean equities leading gains in the region.
South Korea's Kospi jumped over 3%, while the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 2.4%.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.37%, while the Topix added 0.74%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was flat at the open.
—Lee Ying Shan
6 Hours Ago
Asia markets are set to open higher amid renewed U.S.-Iran diplomacy hopes
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mostly higher Friday as investors weighed renewed hopes for diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran.
President Donald Trump said Iran called to make a deal. Mediators from Qatar and Pakistan are also working to bring the two sides to the negotiating table, according to MS NOW, which cited officials from the countries.
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Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher with the index futures contract in Chicago at 69,005 and in Osaka at 69,060 against the index's last close of 67,743.85.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 futures last traded at 8,736, while the index closed at 8,762.50.
Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were last at 24,052, slightly higher than its close of 24,030.18.
—Lee Ying Shan
7 Hours Ago
S&P 500, Nasdaq on track for winning week
Here are where the major averages stand week to date. As of Thursday's close:
- The Nasdaq Composite up by 1.5%
- The S&P 500 up by 0.8%
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average down by 0.8%
— Sarah Min
8 Hours Ago
SK Hynix prices U.S. listing at $149 a share, report says
South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix priced its U.S. listing of American depository receipts at $149 a share, according to Bloomberg, which cited a person familiar.
— Sarah Min
8 Hours Ago
WD-40 Company shares jump
WD-40 products are offered for sale at a home improvement store on April 8, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Shares of the maker of household and industrial lubricants rallied 15% Thursday night. WD-40 Company posted third quarter results that beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, and hiked its full year guidance.
WD-40 Company posted third quarter earnings of $2.33 per share, on an adjusted basis, which topped the $1.56 earnings per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue of $195.1 million also exceeded the anticipated $172.8 million.
It also raised earnings guidance to the range of $6.05 to $6.35 per share, higher than prior guidance of $5.75 to $6.15. Revenue expectations were also raised to the range of $675 million to $690 million, compared to previous guidance in the range of $630 million to $655 million.
Stock Chart IconStock chart icon
WD-40 Company, 1-day
— Sarah Min
8 Hours Ago
Stock futures open little changed
U.S. stock futures opened little changed on Thursday night.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 36 points, or 0.07%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.04% and 0.02%, respectively.
— Sarah Min
S&P 500 closes higher as chip stocks rise and oil prices slide
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