Stock Futures Lower as Investors Look to U.S. Inflation Data
By Joe StonorStock futures fell Friday as the fallout from Nvidia's leadership change continued to hang over markets while longer-dated Treasurys continued to sell off ahead of key U.S. inflation data.A brief rally in U.S. futures overnight was snuffed out before Asian markets closed, reversing into the red.Investors held back from a rebound in Nvidia and the wider artificial-intelligence trade, as Nasdaq futures fell 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged 0.1% lower, while contracts tied to the S&P 500 were down 0.15%.In Japan, SoftBank Group closed over 5% lower, while South Korean chip giants also weakened. Stock indexes fell across the continent, including in Hong Kong and Shanghai. European stocks opened broadly lower, with the continent-wide Stoxx 600 falling 0.3% after closing at a record high Thursday.In the U.S., a severe Microsoft outage continued into Friday, with the software giant struggling to find a fix. Microsoft shares fell close to 3% in premarket trade.Treasurys at the long end of the yield curve weakened ahead of U.S. producer-price index data due later Friday. Two-year Treasury yields stabilized after Thursday's selloff, hovering around 4.855%. Ten-year yields rose above 5.120%, while 30-year yields rose toward 5.500%.Oil prices also extended gains, adding to upward pressure on yields. Benchmark Brent crude contracts rose 0.6% to trade around $96.40 a barrel. The rise extended gains from the last session, when oil contracts rallied after President Trump said the U.S. no longer needed an agreement with Iran.Investors are again on yen intervention after Japan's finance minister issued a fresh warning against speculative foreign-exchange moves. The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar, with the dollar trading close to multimonth highs.Bitcoin fell sharply, pulling back close to 4% to trade below $69,000--the lowest level since mid-August. Gold contracts were steady at around $3,900 a troy ounce.Write to Joe Stonor at [email protected]