Stocks Drift as Traders Shun Risk Before Weekend: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) — US stocks are on track for their first back-to-back weekly loss since the early stages of the war in the Middle East as investors shunned risk ahead of a weekend laden with geopolitical uncertainty.
S&P 500 futures swung between small gains and losses after the index posted its biggest drop this month. Technology stocks remained under pressure as South Korea’s memory giants were pummeled. Treasury yields hovered near their highest levels this year, with Brent trading near $99 a barrel as US President Donald Trump considered an attack on Iran that would be “bigger than ever before.”
Traders are holding off on big bets after a week in which stocks and bonds were rattled by the intensifying war in Iran and fresh concerns over whether massive artificial-intelligence investments will pay off. That leaves investors cautious ahead of a weekend that could bring further escalation in the Middle East, before a stack of earnings from AI hyperscalers next week.
“Next week is a really big week and it could be make-or-break in terms of where markets go next,” said Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at iForex. “There’s an awful lot more nervousness now about capex, particularly when you’re talking about AI and where’s the return on investment coming.”
In tariff-related news, the US will collect duties of between 10% and 12.5% on imports from most major trading partners, its biggest move yet to reconstruct Trump’s tariff wall that was pierced by the Supreme Court.
Corporate Highlights:
Intel Corp. delivered a revenue forecast that shattered Wall Street estimates as booming data center spending fuels a long-awaited turnaround. SAP SE reported better-than-expected sales for its cloud products, as Europe’s largest software company pushes its enterprise customers to upgrade systems and adopt a suite of artificial intelligence products. Volkswagen AG warned that sales may fall again this year as a deepening slump in China intensifies pressure on Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume to overhaul Europe’s largest carmaker. Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% as of 8:32 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 2.1% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 2.5% Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1399 The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 163.68 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7745 per dollar The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3341 Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 0.8% to $65,609.54 Ether rose 0.7% to $1,898.71 Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.69% Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 3.19% Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 5.08% Commodities
Brent crude fell 2.1% to $98.58 a barrel Spot gold was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Neil Campling.
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
