US stock futures took a breather on Friday following two straight days of gains as President Trump turned down the heat in his pursuit of US sovereignty in Greenland.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) hugged the flat line, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) ticked up 0.1%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) also nudged up 0.1%.
Intel’s (INTC) late Thursday earnings dampened appetite for techs, as the chipmaking giant posted a worse-than-expected outlook and swung to a quarterly loss. The company fell short in anticipating the surge in demand for AI-focused data center chips, casting doubt on its turnaround bid. Shares sank over 10% before the bell.
Earlier in the day, stocks climbed for a second consecutive session as investors grew more comfortable due to Trump cooling his rhetoric over acquiring Greenland. The Dow (^DJI), S&P 500 (^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) all posted significant gains.
The rally gained momentum Wednesday after Trump reversed course on proposed tariffs targeting imports from eight European countries that had been scheduled to take effect Feb. 1. The move followed Trump’s announcement of what he described as a “framework” agreement involving Greenland, reached alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Against that backdrop, gold (GC=F) pushed over $4,900 for the first time on record and continued to make gains on Friday. Goldman Sachs (GS) expects further gains as haven demand persists, forecasting prices at $5,400 by the end of this year.
This week’s rebound helped the Dow recover losses posted earlier in the week, leaving the index just higher for the week. Still, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite remain on pace for their second straight weekly declines, down 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
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