Stock Futures Slide as Wholesale Inflation Figures Loom

Stock futures slipped on Friday after down day for the S&P 500, as traders looked ahead to an inflation reading.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials descended 355 points, or 0.7%, to 49,176.

Futures for the much broader index settled 40 points to 6,963.50.

Futures for the NASDAQ dropped 153 points, or 0.6%. to 24,928.

Notable software names fell. Salesforce tumbled more than 2%, and Microsoft lost about 1%, weighing on Dow futures.

Cybersecurity company Zscaler shed 9% after deferred revenue and billings in the fiscal second quarter missed expectations. CoreWeave fell 11% on disappointing guidance.

Downbeat reactions to key tech earnings pressured the broader market on Thursday. The S&P 500 lost 0.5%, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite declined 1.2%. The 30-stock Dow ended the session higher by 17 points, or less than 0.1%.

Nvidia’s 5.5% loss on the day came to a surprise to many investors, who remain bullish on the chipmaker given its blowout fourth-quarter results and upcoming product cycle.

Market participants attributed the decline in shares to doubts around Nvidia’s deal with OpenAI, weak sentiment over the artificial intelligence trade and concerns about hyperscalers’ lofty AI capital expenditures.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.2%,, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was boosted 1%.

Oil prices soared $1.72 to $66.93 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices brightened $6.20 to $5,200.40 U.S an ounce.