NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street, clawing back some of the losses from a rare bumpy week for the market. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in the early going Friday. The benchmark index hit its latest in a string of records a week ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 54 points, or 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.5%. Broadcom surged after the semiconductor company beat Wall Street’s profit targets and gave a glowing forecast, highlighting its artificial intelligence products. Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. European markets were mostly higher and Asian markets closed mostly lower.
Wall Street pointed toward gains early Friday as markets try to claw back losses from a rare bumpy week.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.4% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.2%.
Broadcom shares jumped 16.7% in premarket trading after the chipmaker beat Wall Street’s profit targets and gave a glowing forecast, highlighting its artificial intelligence products. Broadcom reported revenue of $14.1 billion in the period, up 51% over the same period last year. Sales of AI-related products — which have more than tripled year-over-year — drove a big part of that growth.
RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, climbed 13.3% despite missing Wall Street’s sales and profit targets. The high-end furniture and housewares chain told investors that it expects strong demand to continue despite a housing market that’s mired in a years-long slump.
A pair of concerning reports related to the labor market and inflation soured the mood on Wall Street Thursday, though traders still widely expect the Fed to trim its main interest rate at its meeting next week. That would be a third straight cut by the Fed after it began lowering rates in September from a two-decade high. It’s hoping to support a slowing job market after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target.
Lower rates would give a boost to the economy and to prices for investments, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation.
Expectations of a series of rate cuts has driven the S&P 500 to 57 all-time highs so far this year.
A cut next week would have the Fed following other central banks. The European Central Bank cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday, as many investors expected, and the Swiss National Bank cut its policy rate by a steeper half of a percentage point.
European trading was muted at midday as investors assessed the ECB’s rate cut.
Germany’s DAX and the CAC 40 in Paris each edged 0.1% higher, while the FTSE in London was unchanged.
Britain’s economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% month-on-month in October, following a 0.1% decline in September, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The drop was driven by declines in construction and production, while the dominant services sector remained stagnant.
Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to 8,326.93.
In Asia, Chinese leaders wrapped up a two-day economic policy meeting in Beijing on Thursday. Investors were hoping for major moves to support the economy, but the readouts from the closed-door meetings of top leaders lacked details. State media reported that leaders agreed to increase government borrowing to finance more spending and to ease credit to encourage more investment and spending.
“Chinese authorities have been stuck in a more reactionary policy mode, as the uncertainty of U.S. tariff plans makes it difficult for policymakers to make any commitments just yet,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a commentary.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 2.1% to 19,971.24, and the Hang Seng Properties index lost 2.7%. The Shanghai Composite index skidded 2% to 3,391.88.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1% to 39,470.44. A survey by the Bank of Japan showed that business sentiment among large Japanese manufacturers was stronger than expected in the fourth quarter of this year, though overall the results were lackluster.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4% to 8,296.00. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.5% to 2,494.46.
In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil picked up 25 cents to $70.37 per barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, gained 37 cents to $73.78 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 153.45 Japanese yen from 152.55 yen. The euro rose to $1.0518 from $1.0468.
