U.S. stock futures rose on Friday, putting the market on course to pare back its losses from a disappointing start to 2025.
Contracts tied to the S&P 500 were up 0.1%. The benchmark index has fallen for five straight days–its longest losing streak since April. Futures tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 added 0.2%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 70 points, or 0.2%.
The moves came after all three indexes see-sawed over a jittery first trading session of the year. Investors are trimming their bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts after a hawkish press conference by Chair Jerome Powell last month, and soaring natural gas prices in Europe have made the market more worried about stubborn inflation.
“Investors dialled back their expectations for rate cuts from the Fed over the next few months, so that meant risk assets lost a bit of support,” Deutsche Bank’s global head of macro research said. “Moreover, given the latest moves in energy prices, investors moved to raise their near-term inflation expectations.”
The monthly ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index report could be one factor that moves markets on Friday. The data are expected to show a slight contraction, according to FactSet, but a more dramatic drop could firm up the idea that the U.S. economy is starting to slow down.
Bond yields were down slightly over the past 24 hours. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was 4.556%, and 2-year notes were yielding 4.250%.