By Ragini Mathur and Avinash P
July 10 (Reuters) – Wall Street indexes set for a mixed open on Friday, as investors awaited the highly anticipated Nasdaq debut of South Korean chip bellwether SK Hynix, while the latest escalations in the Middle East conflict fanned fears of inflation.
The main U.S. indexes closed higher in the previous session, powered by gains in chipmakers. As of Thursday’s close, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track for weekly gains, with the AI trade back in focus ahead of SK Hynix’s high-profile U.S. listing later on Friday.
The offering is set to be the world’s biggest share sale after SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO last month.
The memory-chip maker raised about $26.5 billion on Thursday, by selling its American Depositary Receipts priced at $149 apiece.
“We’ve heard that it’s (SK Hynix) oversubscribed and people want to own the stock. So I don’t think it’s going to be a disaster or cause any negative volatility. And in fact, if anything, once it starts trading, it could lift the entire chip sector as we move into the weekend,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
Chipmakers have been among the biggest beneficiaries of this year’s AI-driven rally, fueled by expectations of heavy spending on data centers and AI infrastructure. But concerns over stretched valuations and profit taking have recently injected volatility into the sector.
Semiconductor stocks were under pressure in premarket trading, with Intel falling about 2.6%. Memory-chip maker Micron Technology eased 1.3% after gaining 4.5% in the previous session.
At 08:28 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 104 points, or 0.2%, and S&P 500 E-minis were down 1 point, or 0.01%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 84.25 points, or 0.28%.
Geopolitical risks also kept investors on edge after the Iranian armed forces launched attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in the Gulf states on Thursday, following U.S. strikes on Iran’s southern coastal and eastern provinces.
The latest escalation revived concerns about the inflationary impact of the war.
New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Thursday he did not expect Middle East hostilities to cause a sustained rise in energy prices for the rest of the year.
Next week’s June inflation data will offer fresh insight into the Federal Reserve’s likely policy path, while Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is also scheduled to testify before the House Committee on Financial Services.
Markets are pricing in at least one 25-basis-point rate hike by the end of 2026, according to LSEG data.
Delta Air Lines dropped 0.5% in choppy trading, even after forecasting third-quarter profit above expectations.
Crypto-related stocks advanced, tracking gains in bitcoin.
Strategy gained 5.4%, while Coinbase and Riot Platforms added 4.9% and 2.2%, respectively.
Earnings are set to gather pace next week. Analysts are expecting S&P 500 earnings to rise 24% from a year earlier, with technology companies driving much of the growth, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Shinjini Ganguli)
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