US EQUITY OPEN: Stocks mixed with NDX outperforming as chip names rally after INTC earnings

EQUITY OPEN: Stocks opened mixed on Friday, with the Nasdaq outperforming on gains in semiconductors following a strong Intel (INTC) report overnight, adding to optimism seen on Thursday after Mobileye (MBLY) earnings. The S&P 500 posted mild gains, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell and the Russell 2000 was flat. Sectors were mostly lower, with the equal-weight S&P also declining, indicating negative breadth after the opening bell. Technology outperformed alongside consumer discretionary, while all other sectors were in the red, with healthcare the clear laggard.

Overall sentiment and oil prices were choppy amid reports that US/Iran talks could resume in Islamabad later on Friday or over the weekend, although other reports suggested Iran had not agreed to talks. While Foreign Minister Araghchi is set to travel to Islamabad, the visit is to meet Pakistan rather than the US. There were also mixed reports on whether Ghalibaf had again stepped back from the negotiation process. Oil prices were mixed, with Brent higher and WTI lower. Treasury yields were firmer across the curve, particularly at the long end. In FX, the dollar edged lower, with the New Zealand dollar outperforming and the Swiss franc lagging. Precious metals posted marginal gains, while Bitcoin was little changed.

STOCK SPECIFICS: 

• Intel (INTC): Stellar Q report & guidance w/ strong data centre & foundry growth as optimism rising around AI-related CPU & advanced packaging demand; in sympathy, semi's rising with AMD, ARM, MRVL, and ETF SOXX all gaining. 
• A rumour that Qualcomm's (QCOM) ARM data centre CPU is scheduled to launch in June, Citrini Research's Jukan reports.
• Charter Communications (CHTR): Profit missed
• Procter & Gamble (PG): Top & bottom line surpassed exp.
• The Hartford Insurance (HIG): EPS & rev. fell short of Wall St. consensus.
• Principal Financial (PFG): Profit beat & lifted Q div. to $0.82/shr from 0.80.
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW): Strong Q report & guidance
• Boyd Gaming (BYD): Top & bottom line short as performance was hurt by soft rev. at its Las Vegas business.
• Meta (META) and Amazon (AMZN) agree to a multi-billion-dollar deal over several years where META will use tens of millions of AMZN Web Services' Graviton chip cores to support its AI agents and other AI initiatives, via WSJ.