US Stocks Likely To Open Higher After Scaling Record Close: American Express, 3M, Charles Schwab Earnings In Focus

U.S. stock futures were positive on Friday after ending higher on Thursday. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.

Investor nerves eased after President Donald Trump denied reports suggesting he was considering the removal of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Retail sales rebounded in June, rising 0.6% month-over-month after a revised 0.9% drop in May, far exceeding consensus expectations of a 0.1% gain.

Investors await American Express Co. AXP and Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW earnings, scheduled to be released today.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.44% and the two-year bond was at 3.89%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 97.4% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping the current interest rates unchanged in its July meeting.

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 slightly higher in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.16% at $629.07, while the QQQ advanced 0.18% to $562.79, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

Stocks in the financial, information technology, and consumer staples sectors recorded the biggest gains on Thursday, contributing to a higher close for U.S. stocks, with the S&P 500 reaching a fresh closing record. Conversely, health care and real estate stocks ended the session lower, bucking the overall market trend.

PepsiCo Inc. PEP shares climbed over 7% following better-than-expected earnings, while United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL shares added more than 3% after the airline topped earnings estimates.

On the economic data front, U.S. initial jobless claims declined by 7,000 from the previous week to 221,000 in the recent week, compared to market expectations of 235,000.

Insights From Analysts:

A key takeaway for investors, according to Scott Wren, Senior Global Market Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, is the certainty of rising tariffs on numerous U.S. trading partners in the near and intermediate terms. While the recent “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” momentarily sidelined trade concerns, tariffs are firmly back on the policy agenda.

As the second-quarter earnings season unfolds, corporate profitability will be under intense scrutiny. Wells Fargo anticipates a mid-single-digit earnings growth rate for the second quarter, a slowdown from the previous quarter, reflecting both a slightly softer economy and the emerging tariff headwinds.

While some companies have benefited from “buying ahead” to mitigate tariff impacts, others are now feeling the pressure on their bottom lines.

Wren highlights that S&P 500 companies have generally enjoyed robust operating profit margins, around 14-15% since late 2021, exceeding the long-term average. This provides some capacity to absorb tariff costs. However, investors will be keenly focused on how much of these additional expenses will be passed on to consumers and the ultimate impact on earnings.

Wells Fargo continues to favor Information Technology and Communication Services for their expected strong earnings. They also see improved comparisons later this year and into 2026 for Energy, Utilities, and Financials.

For now, the firm suggests trimming overvalued sectors like Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, and U.S. Small Cap Equities, anticipating better buying opportunities towards the end of the year and into 2026.

Meanwhile, Ryan Detrick from Carson Research highlighted that the S&P 500 made its ninth all-time high on Thursday.

“Since 1957 (when it became 500 stocks) today was ATH number 1,250,” he added.

See Also: How to Trade Futures

Upcoming Economic Data

Here’s what investors will keep an eye on Friday:

• June’s housing starts and building permits data will be out by 8:30 a.m., and preliminary consumer sentiment data for July will be released by 10:00 a.m. ET.

Stocks In Focus:

• American Express Co. AXP was up 0.70% in premarket on Friday as analysts expect it to report earnings of $2.03 per share on revenue of $22.29 billion before the opening bell.
• Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW advanced 1.82% as it is expected to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts estimate earnings of $1.07 per share on revenue of $5.65 billion.
• 3M Co. MMM was up 1.79% as analysts expect it to report earnings of $2.01 per share on revenue of $6.09 billion before the opening bell.
• Schlumberger NV SLB was 1.24% higher as it is expected to report earnings before the opening bell. Analysts estimate earnings of 74 cents per share on revenue of $8.47 billion.
• Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. IBKR rose 4.61% after posting better-than-expected second-quarter results. Its quarterly earnings of 51 cents per share beat the analyst consensus estimate of 45 cents. Quarterly revenue of $1.48 billion beat the Street estimate of $1.36 billion.
• Netflix Inc. NFLX fell 1.11% despite beating earnings expectations. It said that it will be interested in partnering with top YouTube creators—but only if their content aligns with the company’s premium streaming standards and monetization model.
• LQR House Inc. YHC slumped 61.95% after the company announced plans to integrate cryptocurrency and blockchain technology into its business model.
• Telomir Pharmaceuticals Inc. TELO surged 125.62% following the announcement of promising data regarding the company's lead candidate, Telomir-1. The data indicated that Telomir-1 could reverse epigenetic gene silencing, restoring the tumor suppressor in human prostate cancer cells.

Commodities, Gold, And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.84% to hover around $68.11 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.29% to hover around $3,348.97 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $3,500.33 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was lower by 0.36% at the 98.3770 level.

Asian markets ended on a mixed note on Friday as India's S&P BSE Sensex, Japan's Nikkei 225, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng indices fell. While Australia's ASX 200, China’s CSI 300, and South Korea's Kospi indices rose. European markets were higher in early trade.

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