US stock futures slipped on Friday following two straight days of gains as President Trump turned down the heat in his pursuit of US sovereignty in Greenland.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) edged down 0.2%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) ticked 0.2% lower. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) shed 0.4%.

Intel's (INTC) late Thursday earnings dampened appetite for techs, as the chipmaking giant posted a worse-than-expected outlook and swung to a quarterly loss. The company struggled to meet demand for its server chips used in AI data centers, casting doubt on its turnaround bid. Shares sank over 10% before the bell.

Earlier in the day, stocks climbed for a second consecutive session as investors grew more comfortable due to Trump cooling his rhetoric over acquiring Greenland. The Dow (^DJI), S&P 500 (^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) all posted significant gains.

The rally gained momentum Wednesday after Trump reversed course on proposed tariffs targeting imports from eight European countries that had been scheduled to take effect Feb. 1. The move followed Trump’s announcement of what he described as a “framework” agreement involving Greenland, reached alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Against that backdrop, gold (GC=F) pushed over $4,900 for the first time on record and continued to make gains on Friday. Goldman Sachs (GS) expects further gains as haven demand persists, forecasting prices at $5,400 by the end of this year.

This week’s rebound helped the Dow recover losses posted earlier in the week, leaving the index just higher for the week. Still, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite remain on pace for their second straight weekly declines, down 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

From Bloomberg:

US natural gas futures (NG=F) pared a record breaking three-day rally, after traders finished exiting short positions and the market braced for a historic winter storm.

Front-month contracts dropped as much as 7.6% to $4.660 per million British thermal units on Friday, after surging 63% over the previous three sessions. Prices were still on track for their biggest weekly gain in records going back to 1990.

This week’s surge was driven by forecasts for below normal temperatures across most of the country, threatening to boost gas consumption and drain inventories. The freeze — particularly in the southern gas-producing states — has raised concerns about water icing in pipelines, potentially disrupting output from this weekend.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Gold (GC=F) closed in on $5,000 an ounce, with geopolitical risks and renewed threats to the Federal Reserve’s independence supporting a record-breaking rally.

Bullion climbed to a record above $4,967 on Friday and was on track for a weekly gain of nearly 8%, supported by a weaker dollar. Silver advanced to an all-time high just below $100 an ounce and platinum also hit a record, with a key gauge of the US currency on track for its poorest week in seven months – making precious metals cheaper for most buyers.

Fresh from its best annual performance since 1979, bullion has extended a breakneck rally to gain a further 15% in the early part of this year. US President Donald Trump’s renewed attacks on the Federal Reserve, as well as military intervention in Venezuela and threats to annex Greenland, have added impetus to the so-called debasement trade, whereby investors pull back from sovereign bonds and currencies in favor of alternative havens like gold.

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Bloomberg reports:

TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. have closed a long-awaited deal to transfer parts of their US operations to American investors, securing the popular video app’s future in the US and avoiding a nationwide ban.

The social media company has officially established a US entity with three managing investors: Oracle Corp., private equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC and Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX. TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew — who will continue running ByteDance’s most valuable asset globally — gets a seat on the board. Adam Presser, who was TikTok’s head of operations, trust and safety, will now helm the American venture as CEO.

A TikTok sale concludes a yearslong geopolitical and regulatory tug-of-war that, for half a decade, has threatened to shut down TikTok in the US over national security concerns. Congress originally passed legislation in 2024 to ban the app unless ByteDance sold TikTok – citing concerns that the Chinese government could abuse US user data or use the app to push narratives preferred by Beijing. TikTok has maintained neither has happened.

The venture’s valuation remains unclear, but US Vice President JD Vance has cited a price tag of about $14 billion. The worth of TikTok’s American business — which spans advertising, e-commerce and live-streaming — has been estimated at $35 billion to $50 billion in the past.

Read more here.