Editor’s Note: The ETFs tracking benchmark indices, lede, and the headline were updated in the story.
U.S. stock futures dropped on Friday as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices fell, following Thursday’s mixed close.
Reuters reported the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is probing suspicious oil trading activity around the U.S. war in Iran, according to comments from CFTC Enforcement Director David Miller. Miller said the agency had "from the beginning" been probing the trading and that the investigation remained open.
He also said the CFTC is watching for problematic trading in prediction markets, including on election outcomes, and that staff "have investigated, and may have open investigations about some candidates who have placed trades on contracts that are based on their own elections."
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.98%, and the 2-year Treasury bond yielded 4.67%, at the last check. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing in a 90.6% likelihood of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged after its October meeting.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket trading on Friday. The SPY was down 0.38% at $761.02, while the QQQ declined 0.13% to $703.52.
Stocks In Focus
Western Digital
- Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) was 0.90% lower in premarket trading on Friday despite beating first-quarter 2027 earnings of $4.64 on revenue of $4.38 billion, versus estimates of $4.07 and $4.13 billion. Management said that it expects price growth for its hard drives to cool eventually.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that WDC maintains a negative price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a strong growth score.
Newmont
- Newmont Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was 2.74% lower in premarket trading on Friday despite beating expectations with earnings of $2.20 on revenue of $6.36 billion, versus estimates of $2.11 and $6.28 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NEM maintains a negative price trend in the short term but a positive trend in the medium and long terms, with a strong momentum score.
Bloom Energy
- Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE) was 0.56% higher in premarket trading on Friday after it reported third-quarter 2026 earnings of $0.94 on revenue of $1.24 billion, versus estimates of $0.68 and $1.05 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that BE maintains a negative price trend in the short and medium terms but a positive trend in the long term, with a strong growth score.
Crown Castle
- Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) was 7.31% higher in premarket trading on Friday after a Bloomberg report said SpaceX is in talks to lease cell tower sites and aims to secure at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CCI maintains a positive price trend in the short and medium terms but a negative trend in the long term, with a poor value score.
Omnicom
- Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) was 2.56% higher as it reported third-quarter 2026 earnings of $2.73 on revenue of $6.42 billion, versus estimates of $2.63 and $6.23 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that OMC maintains a negative price trend in the short term but a positive trend in the medium and long terms, with a poor growth score.
Cues From Last Session
U.S. stocks closed mixed on Thursday, with consumer staples up 3.31% and utilities up 2.07% leading, while information technology fell 3.29% and communication services fell 1.42% lagging.
Insights From Analysts
Jennifer Timmerman, global macro analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said the firm does not expect the midterm election outcome to change its investment outlook and argued that economic growth, earnings, inflation and interest rates should remain more important market drivers than which party controls Congress.
She wrote, “We would resist making major portfolio moves based on the election outcome alone,” and added, “Bottom line: Take political views to the polls, not to your portfolio.”
Timmerman said the economic outlook is unchanged across three possible election scenarios: a split Congress, continued Republican control, or Democratic control of Congress under a Republican president.
She also flagged government borrowing as an area to watch, noting federal deficits have widened regardless of the makeup of Congress and that continued deficits mean more Treasury borrowing, which she said is one of several factors expected to keep longer-term interest rates elevated through 2027.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Friday.
- October’s S&P flash U.S. manufacturing and services PMI data will be released by 9:45 a.m. ET.
- October’s final University of Michigan consumer survey data will be out by 10:00 a.m. ET.
Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude Oil WTI futures were trading higher in the early New York session by 0.87% to hover around $100.34 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.15% to hover around $4,017.52 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.23% higher at the 101.8029 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.50% higher at $81,711 per coin.
Asian markets were mixed on Friday, as Australia’s ASX 200, South Korea’s Kospi, China’s CSI 300, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indices rose. India’s Nifty 50 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices fell. European markets were lower in early trading.
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