Stock Futures Mixed as Investors Look to U.S. Inflation Data — Update

By Joe StonorStock futures struggled for direction Friday as the fallout from Nvidia's leadership change continued to hang over markets while longer-dated Treasurys continued to sell off ahead of key U.S. inflation data.Major U.S. stock indexes yo-yoed as investors digested the ousting of Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and a turnaround in oil prices. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 turned positive, gaining 0.2% and 0.15%, respectively. However, investors held back from a full-throated rebound in Nvidia and the wider artificial-intelligence trade, as Nasdaq futures fell 0.4%.In Asia, a rally in tech stocks overnight was snuffed out before markets closed, reversing into the red. SoftBank Group closed over 5% lower in Tokyo, while South Korean chip giants also weakened. Stock indexes fell across the continent, including in Hong Kong and Shanghai. European stocks were broadly higher, with the continent-wide Stoxx 600 adding 0.2% after closing at a record high Thursday.In the U.S., a severe Microsoft outage continued into Friday, with the software giant struggling to find a fix. Microsoft shares fell close to 3% in premarket trade.Treasurys at the long end of the yield curve weakened ahead of U.S. producer-price index data due later Friday. Two-year Treasury yields stabilized after Thursday's selloff, hovering around 4.855%. Ten-year yields rose above 5.120%, while 30-year yields rose toward 5.500%.Oil prices turned negative after the International Energy Agency said the global oil market would return to a surplus in the final quarter of the year--the first surplus since the start of the U.S.-Iran war. Benchmark Brent crude contracts fell 0.6% to trade around $95.20 a barrel. The fall follows sharp gains in the last session, when oil contracts rallied after President Trump said the U.S. no longer needed an agreement with Iran.Investors are again on yen intervention after Japan's finance minister issued a fresh warning against speculative foreign-exchange moves. The yen weakened against the U.S. dollar, with the dollar trading close to multimonth highs.Bitcoin fell sharply, pulling back by over 3% to trade just above $69,000--the lowest level since mid-August. Gold contracts were steady at around $3,900 a troy ounce.Write to Joe Stonor at [email protected]