US EQUITY OPEN: Nasdaq pares some of the Thursday rout as tech stocks rebound

OPEN: Stocks have opened mixed, with the Nasdaq outperforming as it rebounds from Thursday's sharp declines, while gains are also likely being supported by several earnings updates, including Cloudflare (NET), Akamai (AKAM), Iren (IREN) and Vistra (VST). Meanwhile, Qualcomm (QCOM) is paring back some of the post-earnings losses after Alphabet (GOOGL) disclosed a USD 548mln stake in the company. The S&P 500 and Russell 2000 are seeing gains, but the Dow is lower, while the equal-weight S&P 500 is lagging, highlighting slightly negative market breadth. The majority of sectors are lower, with Consumer Staples, Utilities and Materials lagging, while Technology and Communication Services are the only sectors in positive territory. Elsewhere, Treasury yields are higher across the curve, paring some of the declines seen in recent sessions as expectations for a December Fed rate hike rebuild. Following the equity rout, the implied probability dropped to around 65%, but after the stronger-than-expected US jobs report and a rebound in technology shares, markets now assign a 75% probability of a December hike.

The US NFP report showed the economy added 165k jobs in October, above the 65k forecast, while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% from 4.2%, giving the Fed more room to focus on the inflation side of its mandate.

Oil prices are currently flat, with earlier gains fading on reports that Iran is responding positively to the latest proposal presented by mediators, which also supported equities and saw the Dollar pare its highs. The Dollar remains the clear FX outperformer amid the rebound in UST yields, while the antipodean currencies are the biggest laggards. Traditional havens, including the Yen and Franc, are faring relatively better, although gold prices have declined following Thursday's advance.

Looking ahead, attention turns to the preliminary November UoM Consumer Sentiment survey at the top of the hour, ahead of remarks from BoJ Governor Ueda and a subsequent radio appearance from Fed's Bowman. Next week, the US CPI report takes centre stage.

• Cloudflare (NET): EPS & rev. beat w/ strong next Q & FY outlook
• Akamai Technologies (AKAM): Profit surpassed Wall St. exp.
• Lam Research (LRCX): Announces $25bln share repurchase authorisation & declares Q div.
• Unity Software (U): Silver Lake & Saudi Arabia’s PIF have held talks to acquire the Co., discussing a valuation of c. $25bln
• Airbnb (ABNB): EPS & rev. topped as did next Q top line view
• DraftKings (DKNG): Deeper loss per shr. & rev. light w/ FY top line midpoint short of exp.
• Kura Sushi USA (KRUS): Disappointing results & outlook
• Under Armour (UAA): Rev. short & cut GM view
• IREN (IREN): Top line beat, rapid AI Cloud growth & expanding contracted rev. backlog
• Lyft (LYFT): Surprise loss per shr. & rev. light
• Firefly Aerospace (FLY): Signs rocket engine deal valued at >$1.3bln w/ AST SpaceMobile (ASTS)
• Vistra (VST): Adj. EBITDA, rev. topped & increased share buyback by $1.5bln
• Hims & Hers Health (HIMS): Co. & Eli Lilly (LLY) announce agreement to help expand access to Zepbound & Foundayo
• Qualcomm (QCOM): Alphabet discloses $548mln worth of Co. stake