US stock futures edged higher Friday as Wall Street waited for an official update on negotiations with Iran and digested a blowout earnings report from Dell. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 each rose 0.1% in premarket trading.
Dell Technologies was the standout. Its shares jumped close to 40% after the bell on Thursday after the company beat expectations and gave an upbeat outlook that said fast-growing data centers tied to the AI boom would keep driving demand for its servers, which run on Nvidia chips. The move came after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq set fresh highs on Thursday and extended a run that had taken both indexes to record levels three days in a row this week.
The market’s calm has rested in part on Trump’s signal last week that the U.S. was in the “final stages” of talks with Iran. But the next step still has not arrived. An official update remained elusive on Friday, even as reports circulated of a ceasefire extension reaching Trump’s desk and investors looked for relief on the US-Iran war front after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz helped send prices higher and sharpened concerns about the Federal Reserve’s next moves on interest rates.
The day also brought a sharp reminder that not every consumer name is riding the same wave. Gap shares sank 15% in premarket trading after the retailer cut its full-year sales outlook. Chief Executive Richard Dickson said the company “just got off to a weak start in dresses” and “just did not have the right fashion and value equation” for that category. Gap’s namesake division still posted a 10% same-store sales increase in the first quarter, while Banana Republic delivered a 2% same-store sales gain versus an unchanged result a year earlier.
Oil prices moved lower as the U.S. and Iran tentatively agreed to extend a ceasefire by 60 days, another sign that traders are betting the confrontation may ease before it spreads further. Brent fell below $93 a barrel and was down 18% this month, while West Texas Intermediate traded near $88. A person familiar with the matter said Trump had yet to agree to the terms of the deal, and vice president JD Vance said it was too early to know “when or if” an agreement would be reached. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said “the teams have been going back and forth” when asked whether an interim accord had been clinched.
Crude had already weakened in May on speculation that some form of accord might emerge. During the conflict, the effective closure of Hormuz triggered a global energy shock, cutting off millions of barrels of daily oil supply. For now, traders are treating the mix of stronger AI earnings and softer oil as a green light, but the missing piece is still the same one that has moved markets all week: a clear answer on Iran.
