US stock futures held steady on Friday following another strong session on Wall Street, where both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at fresh record highs. On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.27%, the Nasdaq edged up 0.09%, and the Dow advanced 0.43%, as investors largely brushed off the latest tariff escalations from the Trump administration, including new 50% duties on copper imports and Brazilian goods. President Donald Trump also signaled that fresh tariff proposal letters could be sent to Canada and the European Union as soon as today. In corporate news, Nvidia added 0.75%, extending gains after becoming the first public company to surpass a $4 trillion valuation, further fueling the AI-driven tech rally. Tesla jumped 4.7% on optimism around its robotaxi expansion and plans to integrate xAI’s Grok chatbot into its vehicles. Delta Air Lines surged 12% after reaffirming its full-year earnings guidance, lifting sentiment in the travel sect.
India's BSE Sensex closed about 0.4% down at 83,190.3 on Thursday, the second straight session of losses, as weakness in IT stocks outweighed gains in financials, autos and metals. Market sentiment stayed cautious amid uncertainty over a possible trade deal with the US and the kickoff of the June-quarter earnings season, starting with TCS. India reportedly aims to conclude the first phase of a comprehensive bilateral trade deal with the United States by September or October and an interim pact ahead of the new August 1 deadline to avoid additional tariffs. Meanwhile, the latest FED minutes revealed most policymakers favored interest rate cuts later this year. On the corporate front, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, BEL, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Eternal and HCL Tech were the biggest laggards, shedding between 0.7% and 2.7%. Contrastingly, Maruti, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv and Tata Motors posted the biggest gains, up to 1.4%.
