Dow Futures Rise As Wall Street Eyes A Strong Weekly Close: INTC, AAPL, UNH, BRK, AMAT Among Stocks To Watch

While Dow Jones futures gained 0.67% at the time of writing, the S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%.

U.S. stocks appear set for a positive opening on Friday as investors look to build on a week of gains, following softer-than-expected retail inflation in July.

The United States Census Bureau is set to release retail sales data for July on Friday, and Wall Street expects a 0.5% increase during the month over June, according to a Dow Jones estimate cited by MarketWatch.

While Dow Jones futures gained 0.67% at the time of writing, the S&P 500 futures rose 0.15%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100’s futures fell 0.08%. Futures of the Russell 2000 index were up 0.31%.

Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) gained 0.21% at the time of writing, while Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was flat on Friday morning. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bullish’ territory.

Asian markets ended Friday’s trading session on a mixed note, with the Nikkei 225 leading with a gain of 1.68%, followed by the Shanghai Composite at 0.82%, and the TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock index at 0.4%.

The Hang Seng declined 1.26%, while the KOSPI was closed for trading on account of Liberation Day.

Stocks To Watch

• Intel Corp. (INTC): Intel shares gained nearly 2% in Friday’s pre-market session amid reports that the Trump administration could pick up a stake in the chipmaker.
• UnitedHealth Group Corp. (UNH), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK): Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway pared its stake in Apple during the second quarter (Q2), while loading up on UnitedHealth.
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT): Applied Materials shares plunged nearly 14% in Friday’s premarket after the company’s earnings and revenue forecast for the current quarter came in lower than Wall Street expectations, according to LSEG estimates cited by Yahoo Finance.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<