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U.S. stocks moved higher in early Friday trading, with the dollar on pace for its best week in seven, as markets found support from another solid set of tech earnings while waiting for a final word from the White House of the first round of tariffs from President Donald Trump.
Updated at10:22 AM EST
Nvidia summoned
Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares edged higher in early trading, but are still on pace for a 10% decline over the first month of the year, following reports that President Donald Trump has invited CEO Jensen Huang for a one-to-one meeting at the White House.
Trump, who has shown unusual interest in developing AI technologies on U.S soil, is expected to raise the issue of reports suggesting that DeepSeek, the China-based AI startup, is using Nvidia-made chips that are restricted by export rules.
Nvidia, the world's biggest AI chipmaker, has seen its share price fall sharply in the wake of DeepSeek's emergence and its claim to have built a large-language model and chatbot for less than $6 million.
Nvidia shares were last marked 1.05% higher in early trading and changing hands at $125.96 each.
Updated at 9:38 AM EST
Solid Open
The S&P 500 was marked 23 points, or 0.38% higher in the opening minutes of trading while the Nasdaq rose 140 points, or 0.71%.
The Dow gained 107 points while the mid-cap Russell 2000 gained 24 points, or 1.07% following the December inflation data release.
"Inflation is running above the Fed target, but the trend is stable," said Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X. "This is okay for the economy, companies and consumers."
"The Fed is justified in waiting to lower rates, but we think that relative price stability should help fuel a reacceleration on corporate investment next year in areas like AI and automation," he added.
Updated at 8:42 AM EST
Last mile challenge
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge held steady again last month but a big jump in personal spending into the end of the year continues to suggest elevated pressures and a lack of 'last mile' progress.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis' PCE Price Index report for the month of December showed core prices rising at an annual rate of 2.8%, matching the November reading and Wall Street's consensus forecast.
Core pressures, which strip away volatile food and energy prices, were up 0.2% on the month, compared with November's 0.1% gain and Wall Street's consensus estimate of 0.2%.
Stocks were little-changed following the data release, with futures indicating a 21-point opening bell gain for the S&P 500 and a 105-point advance for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The tech-focused Nasdaq is called 140 points higher.
Benchmark 10-year note yields were 2 basis points higher at 4.539% following the data release, while 2-year notes rose 1 basis points to 4.218%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.39% higher at 108.217.
Updated at 8:06 AM EST
Oil's well?
Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) shares edged higher in premarket trading following a better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings report that included solid production figures from its low-cost operations in Guyana.
Exxon earned $1.67 per share, or $7.39 billion, over the three months ending in December, taking its full-year profit total to $33.46 billion.
Smaller rival Chevron ( CVX ) , meanwhile, missed Street forecasts thanks in part to the quarterly loss for its refining business in five years. The group earned $3.24 billion over the December quarter, or $2.06 per share, even with a downstream loss of $248 million tied to weaker margins.
Exxon shares were marked 0.31% higher at $109.91 each while Chevron fell 1.74% to $153.60 each.
Stock Market Today
Stocks finished firmly higher on Thursday, with Tesla ( TSLA ) and Meta Platforms ( META ) helping offset a slump in Microsoft MSFT and driving the S&P 500 into a 0.53% gain by the close of trading.
Apple ( AAPL ) looks set to take the baton this morning following last night's better-than-expected first quarter earnings and a current quarter revenue outlook that topped Street forecasts.
"We came away [from last night's conference call]optimistic about secular stories tied to services, expanding AI capabilities/geographic expansion and profit margin expansion potential,' said CFRA analyst Angelo Zino.
Shares in the world's biggest tech company, and the heaviest weight on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, were marked 3.37% higher in premarket trading.
The tech gains were somewhat tempered, however, by a muted profit outlook from Samsung Electronics, which noted weakness in the sale of AI components thanks in part to U.S. export restrictions.
Away from equities, the U.S. dollar index jumped 0.4% to trade at 108.235 against a basket of its global peers after President Trump reiterated his threat to apply a 25% tariff on imported goods from Canada and Mexico, which operate in a trade agreement that he renegotiated in 2019, starting Feb. 1.
The President also warned the so-called BRIC nations, which include Brazil, Russia, India and China, that forming a common currency that competes with the dollar would lead to "100% tariffs".
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Trump noted that oil imports could be excluded from the levies, a remark that added downward pressure to global crude prices.
"Investors are confused by the unclear tariff rollouts from the Trump administration [and] the lack of details is complicating market pricing," said Boris Kovacevic, global macro strategist at Convera.
In the bond market, Treasury yields nudged modestly higher amid the tariff news and heading into today's reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE Price Index, at 8:30 am Eastern time.
Benchmark 10-year note yields were last marked 2 basis points higher at 4.535% while 2-year notes were pegged at 4.209%.
Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 suggest an opening bell gain of around 25 points, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average called 165 points higher. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is also priced for a 165 point gain.
More Wall Street Analysts:
In overseas markets, yesterday's ECB rate cut is helping the Stoxx 600 towards its seventh consecutive weekly gain, with the regional benchmark last seen 0.4% higher in mid-day Frankfurt trading.
Overnight in Asia, Samsung's fourth quarter earnings report and outlook kept South Korea's KOSPI in the red following its return from the Lunar New Year Holiday week, dragging the MSCI ex-Japan benchmark 0.11% lower into the close of trading.
Japan's Nikkei 225, meanwhile, rose 0.15% into the close of trading to trim its January loss to 0.81%.
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