(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday, signaling a pause from a week-long selloff triggered by fears of a growth slowdown due to the Trump administration’s erratic trade policies, while gold stocks surged as the precious metal breached the $3,000 level.
The global financial landscape witnessed volatility through the week, with the S&P 500 plunging into correction territory, losing $4 trillion. The tech-laden Nasdaq entered correction territory the previous week.
Investors scrambled to safe-haven assets, with gold breaching the psychological mark for the first time ever.
U.S.-listed stocks of bullion miners rose, with Barrick Gold adding 1.3% and Gold Fields up 2% in premarket trading.
Paul Williams, managing director of Solomon Global, said about the rise in gold prices that it was a “direct response to escalating trade tensions and the growing economic uncertainty that this brings.”
Anxiety about U.S. President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policies has cast a shadow over investment prospects, threatening to tip the U.S. economy into a phase of high inflation and slowing growth.
U.S. tariffs on metal imports triggered swift retaliation from Canada and the European Union. Trump has hinted at further reciprocal tariffs in early April.
Some brokerages lowered their ratings on U.S. stocks and a number of companies announced downbeat forecasts, citing economic uncertainty.
All three indexes are on track for weekly declines, with the benchmark index set for its longest weekly losing streak in seven months. The blue-chip Dow is down about 9% from its recent record high.
At 07:28 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 197 points, or 0.48%, S&P 500 E-minis rose 40.5 points, or 0.73%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis gained 191 points, or 0.99%.
The sharp selloff tempered U.S. stock valuations, with various technical indicators signaling that the S&P 500 has entered oversold territory. Analysts believe U.S. equities now look set to rebound.
Megacaps and chip stocks, which bore the brunt of the selloff, rose. Meta added 1.6%, Nvidia was up 2%, Broadcom climbed 2.1% and Apple edged up 0.6%.
Tesla rose 1.7% after Thursday’s 3% slide at the close. A report said the automaker will make a lower-cost version of its best-selling Model Y in Shanghai, aiming to regain ground lost during a price war in its second-largest market.
The U.S. Senate was on the verge of passing a stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown after Democrats backed down in a standoff over Trump’s campaign to slash the federal workforce.
On the data front, the University of Michigan’s survey of consumer mood is expected at 10 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Reuters expect the index to drop further to 63.1 from the 15-month low it hit in February.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decisions will be in the spotlight in the coming week, with traders betting that the central bank would leave interest rates unchanged, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Crown Castle jumped 7.4% after it said it would sell its fiber assets to two entities for $8.5 billion, nudged by activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
|Reuters