By Shashwat Chauhan
May 22 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures ticked higher on Friday ahead of a long weekend, as investors watched for signs of a breakthrough in discussions to end the nearly three-month long Middle East war.
Iran’s foreign minister met the interior minister of Pakistan to discuss proposals to end the conflict, media reports said, with Tehran and Washington still at odds over Iran’s uranium stockpile and control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Global stocks have whipsawed since the conflict began in late February, but hopes of an eventual resolution to the war, optimism in the AI trade and resilient earnings growth have propelled U.S. stocks to record highs this month.
The blue-chip Dow closed at an all-time high on Thursday for the first time since February 10, becoming the last of the three main U.S. stock indexes to hit the milestone.
“While key differences between the U.S. and Iran still need to be resolved to end the war, the continuation of peace talks remains a supportive factor for investors,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.
UBS Global Wealth Management raised its 2026 year-end target for the S&P 500 to 7,900 from 7,500, citing resilient consumer spending and seemingly insatiable demand for data center infrastructure.
The recovery has been choppy as investors fret about the inflationary impact of surging oil prices, pushing government bond yields higher around the world and hitting risk appetite this week.
Treasury yields slipped on Friday with the 10-year U.S. note yield easing to a one-week low of 4.5%.
Later in the day, Kevin Warsh will be sworn in as Federal Reserve leader at the White House, taking over the reins from Jerome Powell, a pivotal moment for monetary policy and the American economy.
At 06:52 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 106 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 7.75 points, or 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 20.25 points, or 0.07%.
The S&P 500 is on track for an eighth consecutive weekly gain, which would mark its best winning streak since December 2023.
Most megacap and growth stocks were mixed in premarket trading. Nvidia inched up 0.2%, a day after the stock fell 1.7% despite providing a robust quarterly forecast.
Semiconductor stocks, a key driver of recent Wall Street gains, also rose. AMD, Marvell Technology and Broadcom advanced between 0.3% and 1.7%.
Workday jumped 9.1% after the human resources software provider exceeded expectations for first-quarter revenue and profit.
Take-Two Interactive added 4.3% after the video game company reiterated the November 19 launch date for the highly awaited “Grand Theft Auto VI” game.
Estée Lauder surged 9.8% after the cosmetics maker and Spanish perfumery Puig ended talks for a potential merger.
A final reading of the May U.S. consumer sentiment is also due later in the day.
Markets will remain closed on Monday for U.S. Memorial Day.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Devika Syamnath)
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