Asia Markets
US Equity Futures Gain Pre-Bell as Trump Says Ceasefire Still in Effect Despite Skirmish in Strait of Hormuz
US equity futures were edging higher pre-bell Friday as traders continued to monitor developments in the Middle East conflict, with the US and Iran exchanging fire, while President Donald Trump said the ceasefire was still in effect.Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.4% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.6%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.9% higher.The US and Iran traded fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with each side claiming that the other started the attack. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said there was no damage done to three Destroyer vessels, but "great damage" to Iranian boats. "We'll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don't get their Deal signed, FAST!" he added.Trump told reporters that the ceasefire was still in effect. The US is still waiting for Iran's response to its proposal to end the war and postpone nuclear talks to a later date.Traders absorbed the latest round of earnings, with Enbridge (ENB) reporting lower Q1 adjusted earnings amid higher revenue and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) posting increases in Q1 distributable earnings and revenue.Oil prices were largely unchanged, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude flat at $100.10 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude also flat at $94.79 per barrel.The April national unemployment rate was reported at 4.3%, unchanged from the prior month and meeting estimates compiled by Bloomberg.The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for May, slated for 10 am ET, is expected at 49.5, down from 49.8 previously.There will be a panel discussion featuring Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, Fed Governor Christopher Waller, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee at 7:30 pm ET.In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.2% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.9% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite finished flat. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, and Germany's DAX index was 0.9% lower in Europe's early afternoon session.In equities, Cloudflare (NET) shares fell 16% after the company said it expected to reduce its workforce by about 1,100 people as part of a planned restructuring, as well as incurring charges of $140 million to $150 million in connection with the plan. CoreWeave (CRWV) stock was down 6.1% after the company reported a wider-than-expected Q1 net loss. HubSpot (HUBS) shares dropped 24% after the company issued lower-than-expected Q2 revenue guidance.On the winning side, Sony (SONY) stock was up 2.9% after the company's subsidiary Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) said they signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to create a strategic partnership focused on developing and manufacturing next-generation image sensors. Eni (E) shares rose 2.6% after the company said the first tranche of its new share buyback program will be launched in the coming days. Earlier, Eni also said its Geliga-1 offshore Indonesia discovery delivered strong drill stem test results, confirming robust reservoir productivity.
Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$BAM$CRWV$E$ENB$HUBS$NET$SONY$TSM
