July 10 (Reuters) – S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures eased on Friday, halting a strong Wall Street rally as investors weighed Middle East tensions and awaited the highly anticipated Nasdaq debut of South Korean chip bellwether SK Hynix.
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 memory-chip maker priced its American Depositary Receipts at $149 on Thursday, raising about $26.5 billion. The offering is set to be the world’s second-biggest share sale behind SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO last month.
“SK Hynix’s U.S. listing has arguably come a few months too late as shares in memory chip suppliers have pulled back after a purple patch earlier in the year,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.
“However, demand for the U.S. share sale has been stronger than some people might have expected. That implies the memory chip rally might have just taken a breath rather than peaked.”
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 eased in premarket trading, with memory-chipmakers leading declines. Micron Technology fell 3.2% after gaining 4.5% in the previous session, while Western Digital and Seagate Technology dropped 2.8% and 2.7%, respectively.
At 05:08 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis rose 61 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 E-minis fell 12.25 points, or 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis lost 167.5 points, or 0.56%.
Geopolitical risk also kept investors on edge after Iranian armed forces launched attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in the Gulf states on Thursday, after 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, while declining to say how he would vote at the Fed’s policy meeting later this month.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee next week.
Markets are pricing in at least one 25-basis-point rate hike by the end of 2026, according to LSEG data.
Earnings are set to gather pace next week, with analysts 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.
Traders will also watch second-quarter results from Delta Air Lines before the bell.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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