US stock futures pointed to a strong start on Friday, as investors balanced concerns about the economy, regional bank health and the debt ceiling with hopes for new technologies such as artificial intelligence. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, +0.37% rose 114 points, or 0.3%, to 33485. S&P 500 futures ES00, +0.35% rose 14 points, or 0.3%, to 4157. The Nasdaq rose by N+2008%. points, or 0.2%, to 13474. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.66% fell 222 points, or 0.66% to 33310, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.17% lost 7 points, or 0.17% , to 0.4131, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.18% 22 points or rose 0.18% to 12329. A 9% slide in Dow component Walt Disney DIS, -8.73% was a definite weight on the blue-chip index. What’s Driving Markets Also weighing on stocks Thursday was that regional banks continued to struggle, with PacWest Bancorp PACW, -22.73% reporting a big drop in deposits in the week ending May 5. Data released after the closures show that use of both has increased. The Fed’s discount window and its new facility allow banks to borrow against bonds that have fallen in value. The market is also concerned about the looming debt-ceiling limit, as a meeting between President Joe Biden and top leaders of Congress was delayed. Friday’s outlook, which according to Goldman Sachs has been the best-performing day of the week for the S&P 500 this year, looked stronger without much in the way of new economic data or earnings. The University of Michigan releases its consumer sentiment index, after Thursday’s data showed weekly jobless claims and softer producer price inflation. Alphabet GOOGL, +4.31% will be in the spotlight after a 4% stock-price gain on Thursday, with similar gains on Wednesday, in a busy week of AI-related news for the Google parent company. According to Societe Generale, the S&P 500 would be down 2% this year instead of up 8% if it weren’t for AI-popular stocks.
