The S&P 500 is headed for its eighth-straight weekly win
Following two-straight days of triple-digit gains and a record close, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are up 342 points ahead of the open. S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are higher as well, with all three major benchmarks heading for a winning week despite volatility in oil prices and Treasury yields. The SPX is headed for its eighth-straight weekly win, its longest such streak since 2023. Easing U.S.-Iran tensions are also boosting sentiment, while President Donald Trump is slated to swear in new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh this afternoon.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- How options traders responded to Nvidia earnings.
- Technical Analysis: a useful tool for spotting trends.
- Plus, nixed merger boosts EL; pharma name sees trial success; and
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange saw more than 2.5 million call contracts and 1.2 million put contracts traded on Thursday. The single-session equity put/call ratio came in at 0.49, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.59.
- Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL) is up 11.3% premarket, after reports that it has ended potential merger talks with Spanish beauty group Puig. Coming into today, EL is down 24.6% year to date.
- Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) is up 2.5% before the bell, after its experimental lung cancer treatment -- combined with Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical -- met the main goal in a late-stage study and cut tumor progression by 65%. Since the start of the year, the equity is up 10%.
- Shares of IMAX Corp (NYSE:IMAX) are surging up 13.5% in electronic trading, after news that the company is exploring a sale, having had preliminary talks with potential buyers. Should these gains hold, IMAX will erase its 8.3% year-to-date deficit.
- Plenty of economic data scheduled after Memorial Day next week.
Japan's Core Inflation Eases to 4-Year Low
Asia-Pacific markets closed higher on Friday as investors remained optimistic that tensions in the Middle East could ease. Japan’s Nikkei surged 2.7% after the country’s core inflation came in at 1.7%, cooler than the 1.4% expected in April, marking its slowest pace since March 2022. Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.9%, respectively.
European markets traded higher as investors monitored developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict alongside fresh economic data. At last check, London’s FTSE 100 added 0.4%, Germany’s DAX gained 1.2%, and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.8%.