Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 Futures Trade Mixed— UnitedHealth, 180 Life Sciences, Intel In Focus

U.S. stock futures were fluctuating on Friday following Thursday’s mixed moves. Futures of major benchmark indices were mixed.

A hot Producer Price Index report raised questions about September’s rate cuts as the overall producer basket rose 3.3%, on an annual basis, compared to July 2024. It attained its highest point since February 2025.

The PPI index for final demand excluding foods, energy, and trade services moved up 2.8% for the 12 months ended July.

President Donald Trump called on Intel Corp. INTC CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign after Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) raised concerns about his potential ties to China.

This came after Tan met with Trump on Monday in what appears to have been a productive meeting. Later in a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump said the Intel CEO is “highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately,” adding that there were no other solutions.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.28% and the two-year bond was at 3.72%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 92.6% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates for the Sept. 17 decision.

Futures	Change (+/-)
Dow Jones	0.68%
S&P 500	0.08%
Nasdaq 100	-0.15%
Russell 2000	0.20%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were mixed in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.14% at $645.84, while the QQQ declined 0.095% to $579.34, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session

While most S&P 500 sectors closed in negative territory, led by losses in materials, industrials, and consumer staples stocks, the financial and health care services sectors bucked the overall market trend to finish higher.

U.S. stocks settled mostly lower on Thursday after producer inflation posted its largest increase in three years.

Among individual movers, shares of Deere & Co. DE fell 7% after the company lowered its FY25 net income outlook. Conversely, shares of Kimball Electronics Inc. KE jumped around 18% during Thursday’s session after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.

The Dow Jones index ended 11 points or 0.025% higher at 44,911.26, whereas the S&P 500 index rose 0.03% to 6,468.54. Nasdaq Composite declined 0.011% to 21,710.67, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, tumbled 1.24% to end at 2,299.08.

Index	Performance (+/-)	Value
Nasdaq Composite	-0.011%	21,710.67
S&P 500	0.03%	6,468.54
Dow Jones	-0.025%	44,911.26
Russell 2000	-1.24%	2,299.08

Insights From Analysts

A surprisingly hot inflation report has sent a jolt through Wall Street, testing the bull market’s resolve and casting serious doubt on a previously expected interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month.

The 0.9% spike in the July Producer Price Index (PPI) was a “most unwelcome surprise” that shows “inflation is coursing through the economy,” said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Northlight Asset Management.

The report, driven by rising tariffs and sharp increases in services and food costs, “is likely to unwind some of the optimism of a ‘guaranteed’ rate cut next month”. The market’s reaction to this data will be a key indicator of whether this bull market “is as robust as many have been claiming”.

However, other experts urge caution against overreaction. Gina Bolvin, President of Bolvin Wealth Management Group, advises that this is “not a signal to panic,” and believes the “broader disinflationary trend is still intact”.

Similarly, Bill Adams of Comerica Bank calls the report “another pebble on the scale against a rate cut,” but emphasizes that upcoming jobs data “will weigh more heavily on the Fed’s next decision than this inflation report”. The conflicting data leaves the Fed in a delicate position, with all eyes now turning to the September jobs report as the likely tie-breaker.

Following a significant stock market rally, Wells Fargo is advising investors to adjust their portfolios to brace for potential volatility. The firm is recommending moves to reduce risk after the S&P 500 surged over 28% since early April, with the tech sector jumping more than 52%.

“Trimming and rebalancing are two good words to describe the portfolio adjustments we are favoring,” says Scott Wren, Senior Global Market Strategist. “With a good stock rally behind us and valuations…full for a number of sectors, we thought it might be a good time to make a few portfolio adjustments.”

Key changes include downgrading U.S. Small Cap Equities to unfavorable due to the slowing economy and high borrowing costs. In terms of sectors, Wells Fargo has moved Communication Services and Energy to neutral.

The firm favors reallocating funds from these areas into the “most favorably rated Financials sector.” At an asset-class level, the strategy involves shifting from equities into U.S. Intermediate Term Taxable Fixed Income to rebalance after this year’s strong market performance.

See Also: How to Trade Futures — https://www.benzinga.com/money/how-to-trade-futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Friday;

• July’s U.S. retail sales, import price index, and August’s Empire State manufacturing survey data will be out by 8:30 a.m. ET.
• July’s industrial production and capacity utilization data will be released by 9:15 a.m. ET
• June’s business inventories and August’s preliminary consumer sentiment data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.

Stocks In Focus

• UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH soared 12.87% following disclosure that legendary investors Michael Burry and Warren Buffett have taken significant positions in the healthcare giant.
• 180 Life Sciences Corp. ATNF dropped 8.15% coinciding with the decline of the company’s primary reserve asset, Ethereum ETH/USD.
• Intel Corp. INTC was up 2.64% despite the sudden change in tone from President Trump after a meeting with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan at the White House, as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) raised concerns about his potential ties to China.
• Flowers Foods Inc. FLO was down 0.060% in premarket on Friday as it is expected to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts estimate earnings of 30 cents per share on revenue of $1.27 billion.
• Noodles & Co. NDLS jumped 8% despite a second-quarter miss after an optimistic commentary on comparable restaurant sales and a new value strategy from the company’s CEO.
• Globant SA GLOB tumbled 12.44% after issuing FY25 sales guidance below estimates.
• SanDisk Corp. SNDK dropped 10.03% as the company guided for first-quarter adjusted earnings of 70 cents to 90 cents per share, versus estimates of 84 cents per share.
• BIT Mining Ltd. ADR BTCM declined 5.64% after reporting a loss of $0.87 per American Depositary Share for the six months ending June 30, significantly wider than the $0.05 expected by analysts. The revenue tanked 43% year-over-year to $19.4 million, while operating costs and expenses rose 12%.

Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.89% to hover around $63.39 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.12% to hover around $3,339.50 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $3,500.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.39% lower at the 97.8730 level.

Asian markets ended higher on Friday, except Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index. China’s CSI 300, Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices fell, Australia’s ASX 200, and South Korea’s Kospi indices rose. European markets were mostly higher in early trade.

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