Wall St set for muted open but indexes on track for weekly gains; FedEx jumps

By Purvi Agarwal and Sukriti Gupta

Wall Street's main indexes looked set for a subdued open on Friday after they rallied to record highs in the previous session, while FedEx rose as the parcel delivery firm posted upbeat quarterly results.

FedEx FDX gained 3.5% before the bell after reporting quarterly profit and revenue above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as cost-cutting and strength in domestic deliveries helped offset weaker international volumes.

Peer United Parcel Service UPS, which abandoned its bid for Mexican parcel company Estafeta, also gained 1.3%.

Wall Street's three main indexes closed at all-time highs on Thursday, partly boosted by chipmaker Intel INTC after AI leader Nvidia NVDA decided to build a $5 billion stake in the company. Intel was flat in premarket trading on Friday.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's emphasis on the weakening labor market and indications of further monetary policy easing also buoyed investor sentiment.

"The Fed's pivot toward rate cuts, even against a backdrop of sticky inflation, has markets betting on a softer landing rather than a policy misstep," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index RUT closed at an all-time high on Thursday, its first since November 2021, on optimism that additional interest-rate cuts could improve the outlook for these smaller companies.

Futures tied to the index (RTYc1) were little changed on Friday.

At 7:37 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis (YMcv1) were up 12 points, or 0.03%, S&P 500 E-minis ES1! were up 5 points, or 0.07% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQ1! were up 23 points, or 0.09%.

The three indexes were set for weekly gains, wrapping up the week with the Fed's first rate cut of 2025 and reviving optimism around AI-linked stock trading.

Markets will focus on a scheduled call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to discuss TikTok.

"The call between Trump and Xi is the most obvious near-term catalyst, which could shape not just the fate of TikTok but the tone of broader trade talks," said Britzman.

Analysts expect some volatility from "triple witching", where options and futures linked to stock indexes and individual stocks are set to expire on the third Friday of the last month of the quarter.

Wall Street's three main indexes are in positive territory so far in September - a month deemed historically bad for U.S. equities. The benchmark S&P 500 has shed 1.4% on average in the month since 2000, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Comments from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will be parsed in the first media interaction after the Fed's Wednesday meeting.

In other stocks, Lennar LEN fell 2.7% after the homebuilder reported a lower third-quarter profit and forecast fourth-quarter home deliveries below estimates.