U.S. Stocks May Extend Yesterday's Sell-Off In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Following the sell-off seen in the previous session, stocks are likely to see further downside in early trading on Friday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a sharply lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 1.1 percent.

Weakness among technology stocks may continue to weigh on Wall Street amid valuation concerns, as chipmakers Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are both tumbling by more than 3 percent in pre-market trading.

Tech heavyweights Palantir Technologies (PLTR) and Tesla (TSLA) are also seeing significant pre-market weakness and are on track for steep losses this week.

"Markets are down across the board as investors fret about cracks in the narrative that's driven the mother of all tech rallies over the past few years," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

He added, "Investors are worried about rich equity valuations and how billions of dollars are being spent on AI just at a time when the jobs market is looking fragile."

The downward momentum on Wall Street also comes amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates following recent comments from Federal Reserve officials as well as indications key U.S. economic data may never be released due to the government shutdown.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicates the chances of another quarter point rate cut at the next Fed meeting have slumped to 53.2 percent from 66.9 percent a week ago.

After moving sharply lower early in the session, stocks saw even further downside over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages all showed significant moves to the downside after closing mixed for two consecutive sessions.

The major averages ended the just off their lows of the session. The Nasdaq plummeted 536.10 points or 2.3 percent to 22,870.36, the S&P 500 plunged 113.43 points or 1.7 percent to 6,737.49 and the Dow tumbled 797.60 points or 1.7 percent to 47,457.22.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dove by 1.8 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.0 percent.

The major European markets have also shown significant moves to the downside. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 1.9 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 1.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.7 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $0.81 to $59.50 a barrel after rising $0.20 to $58.69 a barrel on Thursday. Meanwhile, after sliding $19.10 to $4,194.50 ounce in the previous session, gold futures are plummeting $134 to $4,060.50 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 153.74 yen versus the 154.55 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Thursday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1644 compared to yesterday's $1.1631.