US stock futures ticked higher on Friday as investors assessed fresh remarks that appeared to dial back some of the market’s anxiety tied to the US-Isreali war with Iran.

Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) and the S&P 500 (ES=F) both edged up 0.2%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^IXIC) nudged 0.1% higher. Stocks on Wall Street closed lower on Thursday after digging out from deeper losses.

The major US gauges are on track for a fourth weekly loss in a row, bruised by a surge in oil prices as the Middle East conflict escalated. Both the Dow (^DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) are approaching correction territory, at around 8% below recent record highs. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is about 5% off its peak.

Crude prices continued a retreat spurred by Israel's vow to help US efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as the threat of Iranian attacks continues to essentially halt energy shipments. Brent (BZ=F) futures traded 1.8% lower at above $106 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) futures were down 2% at around $94.

While the Fed signaled one cut could still be on the table this year, investors are expecting rates to remain as they are, following comments from Chair Jerome Powell.

On the corporate front, earnings season is mostly wrapped for the quarter. Next week sees GameStop (GME) and Carnival (CCL) issue reports.

Bloomberg reports:

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) aims to quintuple cloud and AI revenue to $100 billion annually in five years, setting a high bar for its artificial intelligence endeavors to offset the plateauing of a once pre-eminent e-commerce empire.

Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu proclaimed that goal after his company reported a 67% plunge in quarterly earnings and meagre revenue growth, underscoring the urgency behind Alibaba’s drive to wring more cash out of costly AI endeavors. But Wu didn’t offer specifics on how his company would hit that objective, which suggests at least 35% growth a year — about matching the pace that the cloud division managed in the December quarter. Alibaba’s US-listed shares slid 7.1%, the biggest drop since October.

The picture across most other units appeared bleaker. The company posted a 2% rise in sales to 284.8 billion yuan ($41.3 billion) for the three months ended December, just shy of the average projection. Net income plummeted — its worst performance since early 2024 — hurt in part by heavy spending on promotions to fend off rivals in commerce.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Gold (GC=F) headed for the biggest weekly loss in six years, as war in the Middle East boosted energy and reduced expectations for rate cuts.

Bullion traded near $4,640 an ounce on Friday, down almost 8% this week, the most since March 2020. Soaring crude, natural gas and fuel prices triggered by the conflict are raising inflation concerns, reducing prospects of central banks lowering borrowing costs. That hurts gold as it doesn’t pay interest.

The precious metal — widely viewed as a haven — has dropped every week since the US and Israel attacked Iran last month. The retreat has come as Treasury yields and the US dollar gained ground, investors sold bullion to cover losses elsewhere, and gold-backed exchange-traded funds posted outflows.

Read more here.