Friday morning brought the kind of indecisive market action that makes sense after a day like Thursday. U.S. stock futures couldn't quite make up their minds, swinging between gains and losses as traders digested the previous session's sharp sell-off and what it might mean for the weeks ahead.

The technical picture got a bit more complicated this week. The S&P 500 index slipped below Walter Murphy's support line of 6,550 on Thursday, coming just days after the index fell beneath its 50-day moving average on Monday for the first time in months. When you start stacking up these technical breaks, it tends to get people's attention.

What's driving the shift? Well, September's employment report threw a wrench into the "Fed will keep cutting rates aggressively" narrative. Non-farm payrolls rose by 119,000 in September, which doesn't sound like a massive number until you realize economists had forecast just 50,000. That's more than double expectations, and it's the kind of surprise that makes investors rethink their assumptions about monetary policy.

The bond market is certainly rethinking things. The 10-year Treasury bond was yielding 4.08% while the two-year sat at 3.53%. Meanwhile, the CME Group's FedWatch tool shows markets now pricing in a 66.9% probability that the Federal Reserve will hold rates steady at its December meeting. That's a notable shift from just a few weeks ago when another rate cut seemed like a done deal.

Here's where things stood in the futures market Friday morning:

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 respectively, were both trading lower in premarket action Friday. The SPY declined 0.35% to $650.25, while the QQQ fell 0.77% to $581.15, according to market data.

Stocks Making Headlines

New Fortress Energy

New Fortress Energy Inc. (NFE) absolutely rocketed in premarket trading, surging 19.86% as the company announced progress on debt restructuring. The energy company successfully extended its credit agreement and removed certain liquidity requirements, giving it more breathing room to operate. When you're dealing with debt concerns, this kind of news can trigger a serious relief rally.

From a technical standpoint, NFE maintains a weaker price trend across short, medium, and long-term timeframes, with a poor growth ranking according to market analysis data. It's the kind of situation where good news on the balance sheet doesn't necessarily override longer-term fundamental concerns.

Gap

Gap Inc. (GAP) gained 3.86% after delivering third-quarter results that beat expectations and raising its fiscal 2025 sales guidance above analyst estimates. This is what a successful turnaround story looks like—when a retailer can not only meet expectations but also gain enough confidence to raise guidance, it suggests the operational improvements are sticking.

The stock shows a stronger price trend across all timeframes with a strong quality ranking, reflecting the market's growing confidence in the company's strategic direction and execution.

Elastic NV

Here's a frustrating one for shareholders: Elastic NV (ESTC) tumbled 12.21% despite posting solid earnings that beat expectations and offering strong guidance for both the current quarter and full year. This is the "good news but not good enough" phenomenon that sometimes plagues growth stocks. When expectations get built up ahead of earnings, even a solid beat can disappoint if investors were hoping for something spectacular.

The stock maintains a weaker price trend over short, medium, and long-term periods, with a moderate growth ranking. Sometimes the market reaction tells you more about sentiment than the actual numbers do.

Veeva Systems

Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV) dropped 6.69% despite posting better-than-expected third-quarter results after Thursday's closing bell and raising its full-year earnings and revenue estimates to ranges above analyst expectations. Like Elastic, this appears to be a case where the bar was set quite high heading into the report.

The stock shows a weaker price trend across all measured timeframes but maintains a strong growth ranking, suggesting the fundamentals might be better than the recent price action indicates.

Intuit

Intuit Inc. (INTU) rose 3.23% after reporting first-quarter financial results that topped expectations. The company guided for second-quarter revenue growth of approximately 14% to 15%, though its earnings guidance of $3.63 to $3.68 per share came in slightly below the $3.83 consensus estimate.

INTU maintains a weaker price trend over short, medium, and long-term periods but has a solid quality ranking. The software giant continues to demonstrate steady execution even as the stock price has struggled with broader market headwinds.

What Happened Thursday

Thursday was rough for most of the market. Information technology, consumer discretionary, and industrials stocks led the decline as most S&P 500 sectors finished in the red. Consumer staples provided one of the few bright spots, managing to buck the trend and close higher as investors rotated into defensive sectors.

What Strategists Are Saying

Scott Wren, Senior Global Market Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, is maintaining a confident outlook for equities through 2026, even while acknowledging that near-term volatility could shake things up.

Yes, there's the historical pattern of a "Santa Claus rally" in December, but Wren is careful not to rely too heavily on seasonal patterns. As he puts it, "sometimes all that cheer needs a shot of reality" when it comes to current valuations. Translation: just because stocks often go up in December doesn't mean they will this year if fundamentals don't support it.

But zoom out a bit, and Wren turns decidedly bullish. "Do we look for higher stock prices in the coming 13 months? Yes, we do," he stated. His optimism is built on expectations of an "accelerating economy" in the year ahead, driven by deregulation, tax refunds, and anticipated Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2026. Based on this outlook, he's set a 2026 year-end S&P 500 target range of 7,400 to 7,600.

His tactical advice? Consider trimming positions in fully valued technology sectors and reallocating into Financials and Industrials, which he sees as better positioned to benefit from the buildout of AI infrastructure. It's a rotation play based on the idea that the AI story is moving from pure software into the physical infrastructure needed to support it.

Economic Calendar for Friday

Here's what investors should be watching Friday:

• Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr will speak at 8:30 a.m. ET, Vice Chair Philip Jefferson at 8:45 a.m. ET, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan at 9:00 a.m. ET. Three Fed speakers in quick succession means there's plenty of opportunity for market-moving comments about monetary policy.
• November's S&P flash U.S. services and manufacturing PMI data will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, offering an early read on how the economy is performing this month.
• November's final consumer sentiment data drops at 10:00 a.m. ET, providing insight into how consumers are feeling about the economy heading into the holiday shopping season.

Commodities, Currencies, and Crypto

Crude oil futures were trading lower in early Friday trading, down 2.10% to around $57.77 per barrel. That's a meaningful decline that reflects ongoing concerns about global demand.

Gold spot prices fell 0.68% to hover around $4,049.96 per ounce, pulling back from its recent record high of $4,381.6 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was essentially flat, down just 0.02% at the 100.1370 level.

Bitcoin (BTC) was having a particularly rough morning, trading 10.27% lower at $82,355.15 per coin. That's a steep decline that shows the cryptocurrency market isn't immune to the broader risk-off sentiment.

Global Markets Roundup

Asian markets closed higher on Friday, with China's CSI 300, India's NIFTY 50, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Japan's Nikkei 225, Australia's ASX 200, and South Korea's Kospi indices all posting gains. European markets were mostly lower in early trading, following the more cautious tone set by U.S. markets overnight.