U.S. Stocks May Move To The Upside In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets on Friday, with stocks likely to move to the upside following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data is likely to keep some traders on the sidelines.

Stocks moved mostly higher early in the session but gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session before eventually ending the day mixed.

While tech-heavy Nasdaq added to Wednesday's strong gain, climbing 73.27 points or 0.4 percent to 21,242.70, the S&P 500 edged down 5.06 points or 0.1 percent to 6,340.00 and the Dow fell 224.48 points or 0.5 percent to 43,968.64.

The early strength on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump announced a 100 percent tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips but said companies that are "building in the United States" would be exempt.

"The good news for companies like Apple is if you're building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge," Trump said.

"So in other words, we'll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100 percent on chips and semiconductors," he added. "But if you're building in the United States of America, there's no charge."

The announcement of the tariff on semiconductors and chips came as Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook joined Trump to confirm the company plans to invest another $100 billion in the U.S.

After helping to lead the markets higher on reports of the investment on Wednesday, shares of Apple jumped by another 3.2 percent.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders continue to express concerns about the economic impact of Trump's trade policies as new tariffs on dozens of countries take effect today.

A steep drop by shares of Intel (INTC) also weighed on the markets, with the semiconductor giant tumbling by 3.0 percent after Trump called on CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign immediately, calling him "highly conflicted."

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended August 2nd.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 226,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level of 219,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 221,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for the previous week.

A separate report released by the Labor Department this morning showed a significant rebound by labor productivity in the second quarter.

While most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, pharmaceutical stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index down by 2.1 percent to its lowest closing level in nearly three months.

Eli Lilly (LLY) led the sector lower, plunging by 14.1 percent despite reporting better than expected second quarter results and raising its full-year guidance. Results from a late-stage trial of the company's obesity pill seemingly disappointed investors.

Oil service stocks also saw considerable weakness amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index falling by 1.4 percent.

Software and transportation stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while semiconductor, utilities and computer hardware stocks turned in strong performances.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are rising $0.32 to $64.20 a barrel after falling $0.47 to $63.88 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after climbing $20.30 to $3,453.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $49.40 to $3,503.10 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 147.71 yen versus the 147.14 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1647 compared to yesterday's $1.1666.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mostly lower in cautious trading on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs targeting more than 90 nations came into force just after midnight.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that billions of dollars would soon start flowing into the United States, unless blocked by what he called a "radical left court" determined to see America fail.

China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.1 percent to 3,635.13 after Trump demanded the immediate resignation of new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, calling him "highly conflicted" due to his ties to Chinese firms. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 percent to 24,858.82.

Japanese shares bucked the regional trend after the country's chief trade negotiator said the U.S. agreed to end so-called stacking on universal tariffs and cut car levies at the same time.

SoftBank's strong profits and growing investments in AI also boosted sentiment. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.9 percent to 41,820.48. The broader Topix Index settled 1.2 percent higher at 3,024.21, rising above the key psychological mark of 3,000 points for the first time.

Automakers Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors, Honda and Toyota surged 3-4 percent, while SoftBank Group shares soared 10.4 percent. Sony climbed 3.5 percent to extend the previous session's strong gains after hiking its profit forecasts.

Seoul stocks ended lower as defense stocks succumbed to profit taking amid expectations that the planned U.S.-Russia summit next week may bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Kospi dropped 0.6 percent to 3,210.01. Hyundai Rotem gave up 4.9 percent, Hanwha Aerospace Industries lost 5.5 percent and LIG Nex1 plummeted 14.9 percent.

Australian markets ended modestly lower after two record-setting sessions. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 0.3 percent to 8,807.10, with banks and energy stocks leading losses ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's meeting on August 12. The broader All Ordinaries Index closed down 0.3 percent at 9,076.60.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index slipped 0.3 percent to close at 12,844.63 on concerns over the impact of the newly imposed U.S. tariffs on the domestic economy.

Europe

European stocks were mixed on Friday after the Trump administration's higher tariff rates on trading partners took effect at midnight and Moscow confirmed Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are preparing to meet in the coming days, raising hopes of a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.

While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.1 percent.

In economic news, France's unemployment rate held steady as expected in the June quarter, the statistical office INSEE said.

The jobless rate stood at 7.5 percent in the second quarter, the same as in the previous quarter. The number of unemployed increased by 29,000 compared to the March quarter, to 2.4 million.

In corporate news, British drug major GSK has moved to the upside on news it will receive $370 million as part of a U.S. patent settlement.

German property firm Deutsche Wohnen has also moved higher after posting a narrower first-half loss.

Dutch insurer and asset manager NN Group has also jumped as first-half earnings beat market expectations.

On the other hand, reinsurer Munich Re has plunged after cutting its 2025 insurance revenue forecast.

U.S. Economic News

St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem is scheduled speaks before a Mississippi Delta event, "Financial Well-Being in the Delta: a Conversation on Banking, Credit and Small Business" hosted by Mississippi Valley State University at 10:20 am ET.