Investing.com - U.S. stock futures were subdued ahead of the final session of a holiday-shortened trading week. With Trump administration tariff plans and geopolitical uncertainties looming in the background, markets are gearing up for the release of February U.S. business activity data, which could shed some light on how companies have viewed the broader operating environment during the opening months of 2025. Elsewhere, shares in payments group Block slip on disappointing quarterly income, while shares in Alibaba climb in Hong Kong on solid December quarter revenue from the Chinese e-commerce titan.
1. Futures muted
U.S. stock futures hovered around the flatline on Friday, after equities on Wall Street fell in the prior session as traders assessed the first month of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
By 03:31 ET (08:31 GMT), the Dow futures contract was mostly unchanged, S&P 500 futures contract had inched down by 6 points or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had slipped marginally by 24 points or 0.1%.
The main averages on Wall Street all dropped on Thursday, with investors also marking five years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic rocked global stock markets.
Along with lingering worries over international trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainties, a disappointing annual sales forecast from big-box retail chain Walmart (NYSE:WMT) impacted sentiment. The outlook added fuel to recent concerns over the health of the U.S. consumer. Still, Walmart executives said that shopping activity appears to have remained "resilient."
The latest quarterly earnings season is coming to close, although analysts at Vital Knowledge flagged that key reports are due out next week, including numbers from artificial intelligence-darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).
2. PMIs ahead
Markets will have the chance to parse through the February reading of U.S. business activity on Friday, which could provide some insight into how firms fared during the first month of Trump’s return to the White House.
S&P Global’s composite purchasing managers’ index for the U.S., a tracker of both the manufacturing and services sectors, came in at 52.7 in January. The level was slightly upwardly revised from a preliminary mark of 52.4 -- a nine-month low.
A figure above 50 denotes expansion in the private sector.
At the time, sluggishness in services was offset by expansion in manufacturing, as companies in the sector banked on Trump delivering an era of looser regulations and lower taxes. However, manufacturing firms fretted that Trump’s plans to roll out sweeping tariffs on friends and adversaries alike would disrupt supply chains, hit sales and heighten inflationary pressures.
3. Block earnings
Shares in Block dropped in extended hours trading after the payments firm reported lower-than-anticipated fourth-quarter income despite receiving a boost from relatively strong holiday spending activity and a post-election spike in the price of Bitcoin.
The Jack Dorsey-helmed company posted a profit of $0.71 per share during the period, stripping away one-time costs. Wall Street projections had called for $0.87 a share, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.
Transaction-based revenue accrued by the platform, which acquires Bitcoin through private brokers and then resells the cryptocurrency for a small fee, was $1.68 billion. Estimates had seen the figure at $1.70 billion.
Revenue from Bitcoin, in particular, came in at $2.43 billion, below forecasts of $2.62 billion.
4. Alibaba shares climb in Hong Kong
Alibaba Group’s Hong Kong shares soared on Friday, sparking a broader rally in major Chinese technology stocks, following solid quarterly earnings from the e-commerce giant.
Alibaba (HK:9988) (NYSE:BABA) ended higher by 14.4% at HK$138.30, climbing past its highest mark since 2022. The stock was the best performer on the Hang Seng, underpinning a 3.8% gain in the index.
The company clocked stronger-than-expected revenue for the December quarter, and said it will ramp up investments in its core e-commerce business and artificial intelligence.
Demand for AI also increased revenue from Alibaba Cloud, which is at the center of the group’s efforts to develop the nascent technology.
5. Gold drops from record highs
Gold prices fell from record highs in Asian trade on Friday, but were set for a positive week as threats of more trade tariffs from Trump boosted safe-haven demand.
A dip in the dollar has also benefited gold prices this week, as creeping worries over the health of the U.S. economy -- partly spurred on by Walmart’s soft outlook -- have counterbalanced messaging from the Federal Reserve that officials are in no rush to slash interest rates.
Meanwhile, oil prices hovered below the flatline, yet remained on course to secure a weekly gain, as traders eyed supply chain disruptions in Russia and a drawdown in U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles.