U.S. stock futures were higher on Friday, as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices rose, following Thursday’s lower close.
Nasdaq Composite dropped below 25,000 levels on Thursday—as heavy AI spending plans from Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) unnerved investors and Middle East tensions pushed oil above $100. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (BATS:MAGS), which tracks the seven largest U.S. technology companies, fell 4.63% in its worst session since April 2025. –
However, Brent Crude Futures cooled down on Friday, hovering around the $98 mark as of the publication of this piece. This followed President Donald Trump saying Iranian funds held by the U.S. should be used to pay for any future damage to ships and cargo.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.691%, and the two-year bond was at 4.331%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool’s projections show markets pricing a 70.6% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged during July’s meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.43% |
| S&P 500 | 0.20% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.05% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.20% |
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 higher in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.24% at $739.93, while the QQQ surged by 0.14% to $692.90.
Consumer staples, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks dragged down the S&P 500 on Thursday as most sectors finished in the red, though industrials and health care managed to buck the trend and close higher.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Dow Jones | -0.97% | 51,711.65 |
| S&P 500 | -1.21% | 7,408.30 |
| Nasdaq Composite | -2.15% | 25,137.69 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.67% | 2,940.16 |
Brian Rehling, Co-Head of Global Fixed Income and Digital Asset Strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, anticipates that the Federal Reserve will maintain a tight, inflation-focused monetary stance. While expecting the Fed to keep interest rates steady without further hikes this year, Rehling notes that policymakers are “not ready to declare victory.” He emphasizes that if inflation remains stubborn, the Fed could keep policy restrictive for longer.
Regarding economic drivers, Rehling views artificial intelligence investment as a central economic force. He observes that while near-term spending on data centers and equipment may push prices up, technology will eventually enhance corporate productivity. As Rehling explains, “AI may be a little bumpy at first, but it could help the economy run more efficiently down the road.”
Given the macroeconomic backdrop, Rehling favors short-term fixed income assets like Treasuries and money-market funds to earn a steady yield with minimal interest-rate risk, remarking that “sometimes the boring part of the portfolio earns its keep.”
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Friday.
Crude Oil WTI futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 2.23% to hover around $90.13 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.03% to hover around $4,050.14 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.08% lower at the 101.3600 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.33% lower at $65,365.87 per coin over the last 24 hours.
Asian markets closed lower on Friday, as India’s Nifty 50, Australia’s ASX 200, South Korea’s Kospi, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, China’s CSI 300, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices fell. European markets were mostly higher in early trade.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock