Pre-Bell｜US Stock Futures Rise on Rate-Cut Optimism; Quantum Corp Rockets 7%; Tesla, TSMC Rise 2% Each

U.S. stock index futures climbed on Friday as optimism about an imminent interest-rate cut boosted investor sentiment ahead of the final trading session of a week marked by volatility due to a federal government shutdown that extended to a third day.

Market Snapshot

At 7:50 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 85 points, or 0.18%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 10.75 points, or 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 44.5 points, or 0.18%.

Pre-Market Movers

Tesla was rising 1.6% in premarket trading after falling 5.1% on Thursday even as the electric-vehicle maker reported third-quarter deliveries of 497,099 cars, a record for any quarter. The stock drop Thursday ended a four-session winning streak. Tesla has gained 8% this year.

Meanwhile, a group of shareholders led by New York City employee pension funds filed a letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday urging their fellow Tesla investors to oppose CEO Elon Musk's proposed $1 trillion pay package. "We are concerned that the Board remains fixated on pleasing Mr. Musk, rather than responsibly addressing his many varied pursuits, at least some of which have come at the expense of Tesla shareholders," the letter read.

USA Rare Earth shares jumped 10% in premarket trading on Friday, after a report that the mining company's CEO Barbara Humpton said it was in close discussions with the White House.

Quantum computing shares rallied in premarket trading. Quantum Corp up nearly 7%; Quantum Computing up 6%; D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti up 4%.

Applied Materials fell 2.5% in premarket trading after the chip-equipment maker said new U.S. export rules would crimp its fourth-quarter revenue by $110 million and its 2026 revenue by $600 million. Applied Materials said the Bureau of Industry and Security's Affiliate Rules -- expanding the list of companies subject to restrictions -- will restrict its ability to export certain products and services to China-based customers without a license. Fellow chip-equipment makers KLA Corp. and Lam Research declined 2% and 1.7%, respectively.

TSMC stock jumped 2% in premarket trading. TechInsights discovered gear from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. in multiple samples of Huawei’s third-generation Ascend 910C chips, the firm said in a statement.

Digital-asset exchange Coinbase Global was up 0.4% in premarket trading and Strategy, the large Bitcoin holder formerly known as MicroStrategy, rose slightly. Coinbase closed up 7.5% on Thursday and has risen for five straight sessions, while Strategy finished with a gain of 4.1% as Bitcoin rose to nearly $121,000. The world's largest cryptocurrency has climbed 1.1% to $120,019 over the past 24 hours.

Shares of oil-and-gas producer Occidental Petroleum were up 1.6% ahead of the opening bell. The stock fell 7.3% on Thursday after Occidental Petroleum reached an agreement to sell its petrochemical business to Berkshire Hathaway for $9.7 billion.

Rumble rose 14% after forming a partnership with Perplexity to use the company's artificial-intelligence tools for improving video discovery on its platform.

Fair Isaac extended gains, rising 0.8%, following a jump Thursday of 18% -- the stock's largest daily percentage increase since Nov. 10, 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The credit scoring service provider unveiled new pricing models that would allow companies providing credit reports to directly access FICO scores, thereby bypassing credit bureaus like Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Equifax and TransUnion tumbled 8.5% and 11%, respectively, on Thursday, while U.S.-listed shares of Experian declined 4.3%. All three were rising modestly in premarket trading.

Rivian Automotive, a smaller rival to Tesla, was up 0.2% ahead of the open of trading. Shares fell 7.4% on Thursday as Rivian's third-quarter deliveries rose by nearly 32% and exceeded analysts' estimates but the EV company reduced its full-year delivery guidance. The shares have closed lower for six consecutive sessions.

Boeing stock edged up 0.2% even as Bloomberg reported the aerospace giant's 777x jet would be delayed until 2027. The plane's first commercial flight is slated for early 2027 instead of next year, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. In an email to Barron's, Boeing said it was "unable to comment due to the pre-earnings quiet period."

Market News

Payroll Data on Ice Gives Wall Street Newfound Free Time

The release of U.S. jobs data typically has traders and investors glued to their screens at 8:30 am waiting for the all-important numbers. This Friday, however, is giving some a sudden surplus of free time along with the problem of trying to piece together the economic jigsaw puzzle from other sources.

Still, the timing is awkward. Investors are laser-focused on the labor market for clues to how the Federal Reserve's newly-resumed rate cutting efforts might unfold. It also comes not long after a market-shocking weak scorecard on U.S. jobs prompted President Donald Trump to fire a top Labor Department official.