Wall Street was poised to open with healthy gains on Friday, according to the Associated Press, but it was nowhere near enough to make up for the losses that have piled up in recent weeks as anxious investors flee for safer holdings in the midst of an escalating U.S. trade war. Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 0.8%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, and futures for the technology-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1%.
Big gainers in premarket trading Friday included Semtech, DocuSign, and Ulta Beauty.
Semtech, a chipmaker, climbed 13% after it topped Wall Street’s fourth-quarter expectations and issued strong guidance. Digital document signing company DocuSign jumped more than 10% after it nudged past profit forecasts and easily surpassed revenue targets. Beauty products retailer Ulta rose 6.6% after trouncing analysts’ profit forecasts and issuing better-than-expected full-year guidance.
On Thursday, Wall Street’s sell-off deepened as President Donald Trump’s broadening trade war dragged the S&P 500 more than 10% below the record it set last month. A 10% drop is referred to as a “correction,” and the S&P 500’s 1.4% slide on Thursday sent the index to its first one since 2023.
The Nasdaq, trading home to some of the biggest U.S. technology companies, has fared even worse, declining more than 13% since mid-February. As of Thursday’s close, it was down more than 5% this week alone, dragged down by powerhouse Apple, which is having its worst week in five years. Apple inched up less than a percent before the bell, but its losses for the week are close to 12%.
