US Futures Climb as Chipmakers set to expand Rally – Europe Market Wrap

The Nasdaq 100 reached a record high on Friday, driven by a tech-led rise, while US futures indicated more gains on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 futures saw a 0.4% increase in contracts while the Nasdaq 100 saw a 0.7% increase. Chipmakers had some of the largest gains in premarket trading, with AMD rising 2% and Intel up 1.2%.

The STOXX Europe 600 index rose 0.1%, reducing its weekly loss to 1.2%.

Treasuries were little changed, and the dollar slipped after frenetic repricing earlier in the week of the policy outlook. Investors will pay close attention to Federal Reserve speakers today for further clues on the timing and extent of rate cuts. Traders now see the prospect of easing in March as little more than a coin toss, down from nearly 80% at the end of last week.

BlackRock expects the Fed to start cutting rates in June, Senior Investment Strategist Cooper said. She sees 75 to 100 BPS of reductions by year-end.

UK Retail Sales were weaker than expected which led to the pound weakening.