Futures Point Lower After Volatile Week; Bitcoin Falls Back Beneath $70,000

Stocks were poised for a lower open after major indexes ended a volatile week sharply higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassing the 50000 threshold for the first time. 

Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Dow futures pointed down a respective 0.5%, 0.3%, and 0.1%.

Major indexes bounced back sharply Friday, a day after equities sank amid risk-off sentiment, with the blue-chip Dow, benchmark S&P 500, and tech-heavy Nasdaq all soaring at least 2%. The Dow jumped more than 1,200 points to snap a three-week losing streak, but the Nasdaq extended its skid to four weeks and the S&P 500 fell for the third time in four weeks.

Shares of AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) and construction-equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT) powered the Dow on Friday with gains of 8% and 7%, respectively, but pointed 1% and 0.2% lower before the bell. Amazon (AMZN) stock, which sank more than 5.5% to lead Dow decliners Friday following a disappointing earnings report, was down 0.4%.

U.S.-listed shares of Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk (NVO) rose 7% and Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) stock plummeted 16% after the latter firm said it had “decided to stop offering access” to its copycat version of the former’s Wegovy weight-loss pill.

Elsewhere, Kroger (KR) stock advanced 5% on a report in The Wall Street Journal that the grocery giant planned to name former Walmart executive Greg Foran its new CEO, and U.S.-listed shares of Switzerland-based semiconductor firm STMicroelectronics (STM) jumped 6.5% on an expanded partnership with Amazon Web Services.

Bitcoin was trading around $68,600, down from its overnight high above $72,200. The largest cryptocurrency had a wild Friday, tumbling to just above $60,000 before rebounding above $70,000. Shares of crypto-tied stocks MARA Holdings (MARA), Strategy (MSTR), and Coinbase Global (COIN) were all down between 2.5% and 5% after surging a respective 22%, 17%, and 13% Friday.

Gold futures were slightly higher at just above $5,000 an ounce but well off their high of about $5,625 set on Jan. 29. Silver futures were up 3% to about $79.50 an ounce, well off their high of roughly $121.75 set on the same date.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury—which impacts interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages—rose to near 4.24% from Friday’s close of just below 4.22%. 

West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, ticked higher to $63.65 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of global currencies, was down 0.3% at 97.37.