US stock futures slipped on Friday, looking for a footing after a broad market sell-off as Wall Street waited for the latest reading on consumer inflation for a steer on the path of interest rates.

Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F), the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) all edged down about 0.2%.

Some caution remains after a day of heavy selling for stocks, which retreated sharply with the broader market as fears about AI disruption spilled into sectors such as real estate, transportation, and software. Techs got pummeled as with all seven of the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps finishing lower. Apple (AAPL) sank 5% for its steepest one-day drop since April 2025.

The wait is now on for the January update to the consumer price index. The crucial consumer inflation reading is likely to shape expectations for an already complicated Federal Reserve policy.

In premarket trading, Applied Materials (AMAT) stock surged over 10% after the chip equipment maker delivered better-than-expected quarterly results and issuing an upbeat outlook. Rivian (RIVN) shares leapt 13% after releasing a positively surprising earnings report with revenue of $1.286 billion versus the predicted $1.26 billion.

Earnings season continues with eyes on Moderna (MRNA) reporting Friday after a 10% drop in share value this week after the FDA rejected an investigational flu vaccine.

Bloomberg reports:

After Beijing slammed them shut about a decade ago, the gates have flung open again for Chinese firms to go on overseas acquisition sprees.

In January alone, the volume of outbound mergers and acquisitions from Greater China approached $12 billion, the most for the first month of a year since 2017. The shopping list included high-profile names like German sports brand Puma SE and Canadian miner Allied Gold Corp.

The turnaround is gathering momentum after a prolonged lull that began in the mid to late 2010s, when China capped outbound investment to rein in exuberant spending. One particularly high-profile case was HNA Group Co., which went on a debt-fueled international binge into names such as Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG before collapsing.

“We have seen a pickup in outbound M&A interest from China,” said Richard Griffiths, BNP Paribas SA’s head of M&A in Asia Pacific. “Many new situations are being evaluated at the moment and we expect more significant deals to be announced in 2026.”

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Gold (GC=F) clawed back some losses after a sudden selloff in the previous session, with dip-buyers snapping up the metal ahead of key US inflation data.

Bullion rose as much as 1.4% on Friday, having lost 3.2% in the previous session – the biggest one-day fall in a week. That decline accompanied jitters on Wall Street, where prices buckled across asset classes on concern over the impact of AI on companies’ earnings. The pullback in gold may have been amplified by margin calls and algorithmic trading.

The selloff in US stocks spilled over into precious metals, as some investors with broad holdings were forced to sell commodities to cover margin calls, said Liu Shiyao, an analyst with Zijin Tianfeng Futures Co. “In many cases, investors hold these assets at the same time: when one side is sold off, the other faces redemption pressure,” she said. “However, the impact won’t be too significant. Gold is still in a consolidation phase.”

The pullback was likely intensified by selling from commodity trading advisers using computer models to bet on price moves, said Michael Ball, a macro strategist at Bloomberg.

Read more here.