By Ragini Mathur and Avinash P
July 24 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were set to open higher on Friday after a tech-led selloff in the previous session, as investors digested fresh earnings, escalating Middle East tensions and a new tariff announcement from the Trump administration.
Intel added to this week’s key earnings reports, forecasting quarterly profit and revenue above Wall Street estimates and outlining plans to increase spending over the next two years. The chipmaker’s shares rose 3.3% in premarket trading.
The broader semiconductor sector, however, remained subdued.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their steepest one-day declines in a month on Thursday as concerns mounted over the AI trade.
Results from Alphabet and Tesla heightened investor unease about rising capital spending and cash burn among major technology companies, setting a cautious tone ahead of next week’s earnings from Microsoft, Amazon and Meta .
“With AI remaining the dominant investment theme, markets are becoming increasingly selective, rewarding strong execution while showing less tolerance for elevated spending without a clear path to returns,” said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration imposed new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, citing lax enforcement of forced-labor bans. The move came as a temporary 10% global tariff expired.
Geopolitical risks were in focus after President Donald Trump threatened “major military punishment” for Iran and its Houthi allies, following attacks by Yemeni fighters on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
Oil prices surged above $100 a barrel on Thursday as investors reassessed the risk of a prolonged disruption to energy supplies.
Despite prices easing on Friday, a sustained energy shock could rekindle global inflation concerns and prompt central banks to recalibrate monetary policy.
The Federal Reserve is due to meet next week, with markets pricing in a roughly one-in-three chance of a rate hike, up from 12% a week earlier, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
Investors will also watch next week’s PCE data, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, due a day after the policy decision.
At 8:37 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 214 points, or 0.41%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 17 points, or 0.23%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 37.5 points, or 0.13%.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track for a second straight weekly loss, while the Dow was set for a third consecutive week of declines.
Oracle gained 2.3% after the Pentagon announced a nearly $7 billion agreement, running for up to 10 years, to consolidate the department’s on-premises software licenses with the cloud firm under a single contract.
Later in the session, investors will parse the preliminary July PMI (purchasing managers’ index) data at 9:45 a.m. ET for an updated reading on U.S. manufacturing and services activity.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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