Steep Drops By FedEx, Nike May Weigh On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower open on Friday, with stocks likely to add to the modest losses posted during Thursday’s choppy session.

The downward momentum on Wall Street comes amid ongoing concerns about the economic outlook along with rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

A steep drop by shares of FedEx (FDX) is also likely to weigh on the markets, with the delivery giant plunging by 9.0 percent in pre-market trading.

The slump by FedEx comes after the company reported slightly weaker than expected fiscal third quarter earnings and lowered its full-year earnings guidance due to “continued weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy.”

Shares of Nike (NKE) are also tumbling by 7.1 percent in pre-market trading after the athletic apparel and footwear giant reported fiscal third quarter results that beat estimates but forecast a decrease in sales in the current quarter.

Chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) is also seeing notable pre-market weakness even though the company reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data likely to keep some traders on the sidelines.

After recovering from an initial move to the downside, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The major averages swung back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly lower.

The Nasdaq fell 59.16 points or 0.3 percent to 17,691.63 and the S&P 500 dipped 12.40 points or 0.2 percent to 5,662.89, while the narrower Dow posted an even more modest loss, edging down 11.31 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 41,953.32.

The modestly lower close on Wall Street came amid lingering concerns about the economic outlook following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged, but forecasts suggest officials still expect to resume cutting rates later this year.

However, the Fed officials also lowered their projections for GDP growth in 2025 to 1.7 percent from 2.1 percent and raised their forecasts for consumer price growth this year to 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during his post-meeting press conference that a “good part” of the higher inflation forecast is due to tariffs.

Selling pressure was relatively subdued, however, as a report from the National Association of Realtors unexpectedly showing a significant rebound by existing home sales helped ease concerns about the strength of the economy.

NAR said existing home sales surged by 4.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.26 million in February after tumbling by 4.7 percent to a revised rate of 4.09 million in January.

The sharp increase surprised economists, who had expected existing home sales to slump by another 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 3.95 million from the 4.08 million originally reported for the previous month.

Airline stocks moved significantly lower over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Airline Index down by 1.7 percent.

Considerable weakness also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.

Networking and computer hardware stocks also showed notable moves to the downside, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves on the day.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are edging down $0.04 to $68.03 a barrel after jumping $1.16 to $68.07 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after inching up $2.60 to $3,043.80 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are slipping $2 to $3,041.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.67 yen versus the 148.78 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0842 compared to yesterday’s $1.0851.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday as tariff worries and rising Middle East tensions prompted traders to book some profits after recent gains.

Reports of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and fresh U.S. sanctions on Iran pushed crude oil prices higher, reigniting worries about inflation and raising bets the Federal Reserve may delay rate cuts. The dollar was on the front foot against major peers, exerting pressure on bullion in Asian trading.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped 1.3 percent to 3,364.83 amid a lack of fresh catalysts and ahead of results from some of China’s biggest banks and consumer firms due next week.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged 2.2 percent to 23,689.72 as China stimulus hopes faded. Tech giants Alibaba and Baidu fell 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Japanese markets ended mixed on the back of weaker yen and softer inflation data. Japan’s core inflation eased in February, but price pressures remained strong in key categories, supporting further policy normalization by Bank of Japan.

The Nikkei 225 Index slipped 0.2 percent to 37,677.06, while the broader Topix Index settled 0.3 percent higher at 2,804.16.

Seoul stocks rose for a fifth straight session, with the Kospi rising 0.2 percent to 2,643.13, led by chip-related stocks.

Samsung Electronics rallied 2.5 percent and SK Hynix surged 2.6 percent after memory-chip maker Micron Technology reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, signaling strong demand for its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used by the AI industry.

Australian markets edged up slightly, with miners and consumer staple stocks leading the surge. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2 percent at 7,931.20, while the broader All Ordinaries Index crept up 0.1 percent to 8,158.70.

BHP and Rio Tinto gained about 1 percent each after iron ore prices rose for the first time in days. Grocer Woolworths surged 6.3 percent and Coles Group added 4.9 percent due to the lack of aggressive reforms from the country’s competition watchdog.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index climbed 0.5 percent to 12,113.54.

Europe

European stocks have moved to the downside on Friday, as investors fret about increasing global economic uncertainties resulting from geopolitical tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

The German DAX Index is down by 0.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.7 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.6 percent.

Among individual stocks, German telecommunications firm Freenet has fallen despite an announcement that it will launch a share buyback program in the 2025 financial year.

Douglas AG, a perfume and cosmetics retailer, has plummeted after lowering its full-year guidance due to a decline in consumer sentiment.

Steel group Salzgitter has also moved to the downside after delivering a mixed financial performance in 2024.

Ferrexpo has also slumped on liquidity worries. The iron ore pellet producer said Ukrainian tax authorities had suspended its value-added tax refund worth 512.9 million hryvnias ($12.36 million).

Travel stocks faced selling pressure after a significant power outage closed Britain’s Heathrow Airport for the day.

U.S. Economic News

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is due to deliver the keynote before the 2nd Biennial Macroeconometric Caribbean Conference organized by the Central Bank of The Bahamas and the Indiana University Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research at 9:05 am ET.