US Stock Futures Steady After Tech Rout as Brent Crude Cools From $100; Trump Reignites Tariff Tensions

U.S. equity futures pointed to a tentative rebound on Friday after a bruising tech-led sell-off, as traders weighed a new round of global tariffs, still elevated oil prices and a busy earnings docket.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose roughly 0.5%, while those on the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 nudged up by over 0.2% and 0.10%, respectively, as Wall Street stocks attempted to stabilize after a sharp sell-off on Thursday, led by megacap tech names. The major indexes were on track for weekly losses after the "Magnificent Seven" stocks collectively shed nearly $800 billion in market value on Thursday amid a sell-off sparked by Alphabet's earnings.

The backdrop remains fragile. Thursday's decline marked the S&P 500's worst single-day performance in a month as markets grappled with renewed geopolitical risks and fresh concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) spending following Alphabet's earnings. Brent crude briefly topped $100 per barrel for the first time since late May after attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea reignited fears of supply disruptions. Treasury yields also climbed, with the benchmark 10-year yield briefly rising above 4.7%, prompting traders to increase expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike later this year.

MarketFramework's Positioning Edge toolshows that sentiment toward the Nasdaq E-Mini futures (NQ) were just above neutral. But the break-up of profitable and unprofitable trades between long and short bets show that 56.1% of the profitable trades were long bets, while only 48.8% of the unprofitable trades were short bets. The. numbers suggest bulls still held a slight edge, even as the relatively balanced losing positions indicate conviction wasn't particularly strong.

Overnight, Trump's latest round of global tariffs targeting nearly all U.S. imports took effect, though the White House carved out exemptions for certain energy products amid already-elevated oil prices. Separately, new Section 301 tariffs tied to alleged forced-labor violations took effect just after midnight ET Friday, covering 60 trading partners and replacing the temporary global tariff regime.

In commodities, Brent crude dropped more than 3% to $97.47 a barrel, and following a pullback by almost a similar magnitude, WTI crude slipped below $90. The former, an nternational benchmark, was set for a weekly gain after touching $100 per barrel. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury declined by 1.8 basis point, although staying elevated at 4.685%.

Earnings continue to dominate single-stock moves in the premarket. Intel is the standout after a blockbuster print. Intel reported second-quarter revenue of $16.13 billion, topping analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Adjusted earnings came in at 42 cents per share, well above the consensus estimate of 21 cents. CNBC's Jim Cramer called Intel "the one" after the results, while Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said no one should be surprised Intel "crushed earnings," citing unprecedented demand for data center CPUs driven by agentic AI, pricing gains, higher volumes, and improving supply.

Financials and telecom are next on deck. Wall Street is expecting American Express to deliver earnings per share of $4.40 on revenue of $19.70 billion when the credit services giant reports second-quarter 2026 results Friday, before market open. Shares of American Express fell 2.3% to close at $340.84 on Thursday heading into the print. Verizon also reports before the open, with the company expected to report an adjusted EPS of $1.23.

Asian equities closed broadly lower on Friday, tracking the overnight rout on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 fell 2.73% to 64,611.15, while the Hang Seng Index dropped about 0.98% to 24,963.23.

European bourses opened Friday attempting to steady after the previous session's slide. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.46% in morning trading. The FTSE 100 added 0.37%. Other key averages in Europe were up as France's CAC 40 increased 0.32% and Germany's DAX rose 0.84%. Natural gas prices recovered after easing marginally in the Asian session, with the European benchmark price for natural gas, the Dutch futures contract TTF, up 1.5% to 62.685 euros a megawatt hour.

The data slate is light but market-relevant. The economic data to watch will be S&P Global's flash purchasing managers index updates on services and manufacturing in July, and new home sales. Any upside surprise in the flash PMIs could reinforce the recent back-up in Treasury yields and complicate the near-term Fed path, while a softer new home sales print would feed the growth-slowdown narrative already visible in rate-sensitive sectors.

• Nasdaq Composite: NASDAQ is in a rising trend channel in the medium long term. This shows that investors over time have bought the index at higher prices and indicates good development for the market. The index has support at points 25,000 and resistance at points 25,800.
• US 10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.70% remains the pivotal level after Thursday's brief breach; a sustained close above could reprice rate-cut odds further.
• Brent crude: The $100/bbl mark is the key psychological pivot, with the international benchmark oscillating around it after Red Sea tanker attacks.
• VIX: A move back above 20 from the current levels near 19 would signal a broader risk-off shift.

• American Express (AXP), NextEra Energy (NEE), and Verizon Communications (VZ) are among the companies reporting earnings.
• HCA Healthcare (HCA) also reports before the bell, per the week's calendar.