Powell comments, China's ICBC hit by ransomware attack - what's moving markets
Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures were mixed heading into the final day of trading this week, as investors eyed Treasury yield moves and gauged the path ahead for interest rates following a closely-watched statement from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Elsewhere, trade in the U.S. Treasury market is disrupted by a cyberattack on China's largest commercial lender by assets, while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) agrees to pay out a $25 million settlement over claims regarding its U.S. immigrant hiring practices.
1. Futures mixed
U.S. stock futures were mixed on Friday after the benchmark S&P 500 ended an eight-day winning streak in the prior session.
By 04:40 ET (09:40 GMT), the Dow futures contract had added 32 points or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures were mostly flat, and Nasdaq 100 futures had inched down by 43 points or 0.3%.
The main indices on Wall Street finished lower on Thursday, as investors digested fresh commentary on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path from Chair Jerome Powell (more below).
The S&P 500 fell by 0.8%, bringing the curtain down on its longest series of consecutive positive days in two years. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average also slipped by 0.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
Rattling investors in particular was a jump in U.S. Treasury yields, with the longer-dated 10-year and 30-year yields both edging up by over 10 basis points. Yields typically move inversely to prices.
2. Powell «not confident» policy stance is restrictive enough
Markets were focused on remarks on Thursday from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested that the U.S. central bank may have more work to do to bring inflation down to its stated 2% target.
Speaking at an International Monetary Fund event
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