Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 13, 2025.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
Stock futures rose slightly Friday, with investors hoping that the U.S.- United Kingdom trade deal framework is the beginning of more progress to come.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were higher by 61 points, or 0.2%. Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 0.4%, while S&P 500 futures were up about 0.3%.
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a preliminary trade agreement with the U.K., which is the first deal between the U.S. and a global trading partner since Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff announcement last month. The details have yet to be finalized, but Trump said a 10% baseline tariff will remain in place on the U.K.
“While trade with the UK pales in comparison to trade with our neighbors to the North and South, and especially in comparison to China, it is an important test case and a model for what could be accomplished,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management.
“If the administration can follow this up with additional agreements, it would go a long way toward healing a stock market that has been battered and bruised this year,” he added.
Trump also noted that the 10% rate represents the lower end of what other countries can expect, and noted “some will be much higher because they have massive trade surpluses.”
Stocks rose after Trump said he anticipates U.S. negotiators will have a “good weekend” with China in opening trade talks. The major averages ended the day off the highs, with Dow advancing 0.6% and the S&P 500 adding nearly 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite climbed about 1.1%.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are slated to meet with their Chinese counterparts in Switzerland over the weekend. Trump has left his 145% tariff on China unchanged despite issuing a 90-day pause on higher rates for most countries last month.
Week to date, the S&P 500 is on pace for a 0.4% decline for the period, while the Nasdaq is on track to drop 0.3%. The Dow is toting a modest gain of 0.1%, heading for its third positive week in a row.
Fed’s Barr warns tariffs will push inflation higher
Fed Governor Michael Barr warned that Trump’s tariffs on imports will likely lead to higher prices and lower growth later in the year.
“The size and scope of the recent tariff increases are without modern precedent, we don’t know their final form, and it is too soon to know how they will affect the economy,” Barr said on Friday in remarks prepared remarks.
“In my view, higher tariffs could lead to disruption to global supply chains and create persistent upward pressure on inflation,” he said. “I am equally concerned that tariffs will lead to higher unemployment as the economy slows.”
— Fred Imbert
China’s April exports jump 8.1% to beat estimates despite U.S. tariffs; import decline slows
China’s exports surged in April even as businesses bore the brunt of U.S. tariffs that kicked into higher gear last month, while imports narrowed declines as Beijing stepped up stimulus.
Exports jumped 8.1% last month in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier, according to data released by customs authority Friday, sharply beating with Reuters’ poll estimates of a 1.9% rise.
Imports slumped by 0.2% in April from a year earlier, compared with the economists’ expectations of a 5.9% drop.
Read the full story here.
—Anniek Bao
Retail investor bullishness took a big leg up in latest week, hitting a 3-month high, AAII says
Main Street investors were the most bullish since early February in the latest weekly survey by the American Association of Individual Investors, rising to 29.4% of those responding, up from 20.9% last week. That was the highest reading since 33.3% described themselves as bullish toward the six-month outlook for stocks back on Feb. 5, shortly before stocks topped out on Feb. 19.
Still, it was the 17th week in 19 that bullishness was below the historic average of 37.5%.
The percentage of investors who said they were bearish dropped to 51.5% — the fewest since the week of Feb. 19 — from 59.3% last week. The historic average for bearishness is just 31.0% of investors.
The balance of investors said they were neutral on the short-term outlook for stocks.
— Scott Schnipper
Stocks making the biggest moves after hours
Check out some of the companies making headlines in extended trading.
- Affirm — Stock in the buy now, pay later company pulled back nearly 8%. Affirm issued fiscal fourth- quarter revenue guidance ranging between $815 million and $845 million, with a midpoint of $830 million. That’s short of the consensus estimate of $841 million, per LSEG.
- Pinterest — The image sharing platform added more than 16%. Pinterest issued better-than-expected second-quarter guidance for revenue at the midpoint. Revenue in the first quarter also topped analysts’ estimates, landing at $855 million compared to LSEG consensus estimates for $847 million.
- Coinbase — The cryptocurrency exchange pulled back 3% on the heels of weaker-than-expected first-quarter revenue. Coinbase reported revenue of $2.03 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG were expecting $2.12 billion.
Read the full list here.
— Brian Evans
Stock futures are little changed
Stock futures were little changed on Thursday, as investors hope that the U.S. will make more progress on trade following an initial framework for a deal with the United Kingdom.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 14 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.07%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.12%.
— Brian Evans