Stock futures inched higher on Friday morning as traders assessed the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire amid Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.9% for March, bringing the annual inflation rate to 3.3%, in line with expectations. The increase was mainly driven by a 10.9% surge in energy costs amid the Middle East tensions. Meanwhile, core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.9% year-over-year in March, 0.1 percentage point below expectations.
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Trade QQQ with leverageFutures on the Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 Index (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were up 0.21%, 0.15%, and 0.06%, respectively, at 8:40 a.m. EST on April 10.
At the time of writing, the international oil benchmark Brent (CM:BZ) was down 0.47% to $95.47 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CM:CL) fell 0.43% to $97.45 per barrel.
During Thursday’s regular trading session, the three major indexes closed higher on hopes that the ceasefire would hold. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 rose 0.83% and 0.62%, respectively, while the Dow Jones gained 0.58%. Overall, major U.S. indexes are set for strong weekly gains. The S&P 500 is up nearly 3.7% through Thursday’s close, on track for its best week since November. The Dow has climbed 3.6% week-to-date, while the Nasdaq Composite is up 4.3%.
Coming to trending stocks, shares of Lumentum Holdings (LITE) soared more than 5% in Friday’s pre-market trading after its CEO told Bloomberg that the optical and photonic company’s offerings are booked through 2027 amid AI buildout. Shares of Coherent (COHR), another photonics company, were up 4%. Chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) has invested in both companies.
Meanwhile, ServiceNow (NOW) stock was down about 1% after UBS downgraded the software stock to Hold from Buy, saying AI is a bigger threat than initially perceived.