Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Inch Higher as Investors Await New Developments on Tariffs; Bitcoin Keeps Rising

Stock futures are slightly higher Friday morning after two straight days of gains for major indexes as investors await further developments on tariffs.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were each up 0.3% recently, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures tacked on 0.2%. Stocks are coming off of solid gains on Thursday after President Donald Trump announced a trade agreement with the U.K. and indicated that more deals are on the way.

The Dow enters Friday’s session up slightly for the week, while the S&P 500 is down 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite is off 0.3%. If the major indexes manage to post gains for the week, it would mark three straight weeks that all three have done so, which would be the first time since October that has happened.

Investors will be particularly focused on any news related to tariffs on China, ahead of highly anticipated trade talks that are scheduled for this weekend in Switzerland between U.S. and Chinese officials. Trump said yesterday that the talks could be “very substantive” and that tariffs on China, which currently stand at 145%, could be lowered if the discussions go well.

Market participants will also be keeping tabs today on remarks from several Federal Reserve officials who are due to speak. The Fed’s policy committee on Wednesday decided to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged, much to Trump’s frustration. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that tariffs have raised the risks of higher inflation and unemployment, but that the central bank needs more data on how trade policy is affecting the economy before adjusting monetary policy.

Mega-cap tech stocks were higher across the board in premarket trading, though the gains were modest. Tesla (TSLA) was up 1%, while Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta Platforms (META) and Broadcom (AVGO) inched higher.

The earnings reporting calendar is relatively light on Friday, but a handful of companies were making big moves after releasing quarterly results. Social media service Pinterest (PINS) and cybersecurity provider Cloudflare (NET) jumped 13% and 11%, respectively, while travel booking platform Expedia (EXPE) dropped 10% and buy now, pay later company Affirm (AFRM) fell 6%.

Bitcoin continued gaining ground after surging above $100,000 on Thursday for the first time since February. The digital currency was at $103,100, up from an overnight low of $101,300.

Gold futures were up 0.9% at $3,335 an ounce after two straight days of declines, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 2.2% to $61.25 per barrel, trading at their highest level of the month after hitting a four-year low last week.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, rose to 4.39% from 4.37% at yesterday’s close. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was up down 0.3% at 100.40, after hitting its highest level in a month during yesterday’s session.