Pre-Bell | US Stock Market Will Close Early at 1 P.M. on Friday; Alphabet, AMD up 1%; Micron up 3%; SanDisk, BMNR up 4%; Oracle Falls 2%

Market Movers

Alphabet rose more than 1% in premarket trading as the tech giant looked set to restart its rally after a blip on Wednesday. Investors have become more excited about Google's AI efforts, and its chances of challenging Nvidia's dominance, following the launch of the Gemini 3 chatbot and a potential deal for Meta to use its chips. Nvidia stock edged 0.4% higher.

Stocks exposed to cryptocurrencies were boosted ahead of the open after Bitcoin climbed above $90,000 and kept rising toward $92,000 over the Thanksgiving holiday. Coinbase was up 2.5%, Robinhood rose 1% and Strategy -- the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin -- pointed 2.1% higher.

GameStop jumped 3.5% in premarket trading as the meme stock continued to gained momentum ahead of its earnings, which are expected on Tuesday. Heading into Friday's trading, the shares are up 7.4% this week.

Circle rose 3.4% after S&P Global cut its rating of rival stablecoin issuer Tether to "weak" on Wednesday. The ratings agency noted that corporate bonds, precious metals, Bitcoin, secured loans, and other riskier investments made up 24% of Tether's reserves as of Sept. 30, up from 17% a year ago.

Retail stocks were also in focus on Black Friday, with Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Costco stocks all rising in premarket trading.

The Metals Company rose 16%; SanDisk Corp., BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc. up 4%; Micron Technology up 3%. Oracle fell 2%.

Market News

Amazon, Flipkart Take Aim at India's Banks with New Consumer Loan Offerings

Amazon is preparing to offer loans to small businesses in India, while Walmart-owned Flipkart is looking at buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) ​products as the e-commerce giants take on the country's banks with a push into financial products.

Amazon acquired ‌Bengaluru-based non-bank lender Axio earlier this year. Currently focused on BNPL and personal loans, Axio will re-embark on offering credit for small businesses ‌and start offering cash management solutions.

EU to Examine If Apple Ads and Maps Subject to Tough Rules, Apple Says No

EU antitrust regulators will examine whether Apple's Apple Ads and Apple Maps should be subject to the onerous requirements of the bloc's digital rules after both services hit key criteria, with the U.S. tech giant saying they should be exempted.

Apple's App Store, iOS operating system and Safari web browser were designated core platform services under the Digital Markets Act two years ago aimed at reining in the power of Big Tech and opening up the field to rivals so consumers can have more choice.