United States stock futures hovered ticked lower on Thursday night (Friday AEDT) as investors assessed the market fallout from renewed concerns over regional banks’ lending practices that sparked a sharp sell-off in the prior session.
By 9:50 am AEDT (10:50 pm GMT) Dow futures and Nasdaq 100 futures head steady, while S&P 500 futures ticked down 0.1%.
In after-hours trading, Oracle shares fell 2.4% after the cloud infrastructure giant issued its long-term outlook to analysts, forecasting a 31% compound annual revenue growth rate over the next five years.
The company, which gained 3% during regular trading, told investors at its AI World conference in Las Vegas that its core database and data platform businesses are expected to expand. Oracle also announced a cloud computing partnership with Meta.
CSX Corp. rose 2.3% after posting quarterly revenue in line with market expectations. Excluding a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of US$164 million, adjusted operating income stood at $1.25 billion, and adjusted net earnings reached $818 million, or $0.44 per share.
Interactive Brokers fell 2.3% despite stronger-than-expected results. The brokerage reported third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $0.57, beating market expectations of $0.54, on revenue of $1.66 billion versus expectations of $1.53 billion.
Meanwhile, drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly dropped 2.8% and 3.6%, respectively, after President Donald Trump commented on pricing for weight loss drugs, saying prices would “come down”.
During a briefing on fertility treatments, Trump noted that his administration was negotiating significantly lower prices for its popular obesity medications.
The prior session saw the major U.S. benchmarks close in the red as financial stocks came under pressure late in the day. Zions Bancorporation and Western Alliance fell sharply after disclosing losses tied to bad loans, intensifying fears about lax lending standards.
Anxiety in the banking sector has been amplified by recent bankruptcies among auto industry-related companies, fuelling concerns that credit issues may be spreading.
Beyond the financial sector, traders continued to monitor persistent trade tensions, elevated market valuations driven by the artificial intelligence boom, and the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, now entering its third week.
The stoppage has delayed key economic data releases from federal agencies, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook.
Despite the week’s turbulence, the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains up about 1% for the week, the S&P 500 has gained nearly 1.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite has advanced 1.6%.
