U.S. equity futures showed a downward trend ahead of Friday's market opening, as a worldwide technology outage impacted a variety of sectors. The S&P 500 futures dipped by 0.2%, while both the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced declines of 0.3% in premarket trading. This negative sentiment extended across Asian markets, which primarily registered losses, and European exchanges, which were also experiencing declines in midday trading across the continent.
The cause of the market fluctuations can be traced to a significant outage linked to Microsoft ($MSFT) and Crowdstrike ($CRWD) platforms, which disrupted operations on a global scale. Various sectors, including aviation, broadcasting, banking, and healthcare, were adversely affected. As a result of this disruption, Microsoft shares plummeted by 2.1% in premarket activity.
Crowdstrike saw a more significant drop of 10%, following comments from Chief Executive George Kurtz on the X platform, clarifying that the incident did not involve a cyber attack. Despite these troubling developments, Netflix ($NFLX) shares fell by just 1.1% before the opening bell, even after the streaming service reported second-quarter results that exceeded expectations.
Conversely, Intuitive Surgical ($ISRG) witnessed a robust increase of 6.4%, attributed to the company’s June quarter results that surpassed market estimates. In contrast, PPG Industries ($PPG) reported a decline of 4.6% after revising down its full-year adjusted earnings outlook, contributing to the overall market uncertainty. In terms of earnings announcements, American Express ($AXP) reported second-quarter adjusted earnings at $3.49 per diluted share, a notable rise from $2.89 the previous year.
Schlumberger ($SLB) also posted gains, earning $0.85 per diluted share in the June quarter, up from $0.72 year-over-year. Additionally, Travelers Cos. ($TRV), Wipro ($WIT), Halliburton ($HAL), and Fifth Third Bancorp ($FITB) are scheduled to release their latest financial results in the early hours of Friday.
Market participants will also be watching for the weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count, which is set to be released at 1 PM ET. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will be addressing the public at 10:40 AM, followed by Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, who is scheduled to speak at 1 PM.
Before the market opens, Bitcoin prices saw an increase of 0.7%, reaching $64,017. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude oil values diminished by 0.2%, settling at $82.63 per barrel. Additionally, yields on 10-year Treasuries rose by 2.5 basis points, now at 4.21%, whereas gold prices experienced a drop of 1.8%, listed at $2,413 per ounce..