Tonight’s Highlights: April Non-Farms Beat Expectations; U.S. Futures Rally Collectively

U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday as traders monitored the latest developments between the U.S. and Iran. Major European indices trended lower across the board.

 

International oil prices edged higher, with Brent crude hovering near $100 per barrel. The uptick follows an exchange of fire between U.S. and Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz, with both sides claiming the other initiated the attack.

 

Pre-market data showed the U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs in April, significantly higher than the 55,000 projected by economists, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.

 

With interest rate policy uncertainty far higher than in previous months, this report provides a critical benchmark for Federal Reserve officials assessing economic health.

 

Concerns remain balanced between war-driven oil price spikes fueling inflation and signs of underlying cooling in the labor market.

 

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite pulled back slightly after hitting all-time highs in the previous session.

 

Buoyed by a robust earnings season, all three major indices are on track for weekly gains. Strength in tech earnings has propelled the Nasdaq up 2.8% for the week, while the S&P 500 and Dow have gained 1.5% and 0.2%, respectively.

 

Yung-Yu Ma, Chief Investment Strategist at NC Asset Management, expects this earnings momentum to persist.

 

"The rally is incredibly broad-based," he noted. "Analysts still forecast year-over-year earnings growth of approximately 20% or higher for the remaining quarters of the year. We aren't seeing the expected deceleration in momentum."

Corporate News

TSMC: Reported April sales of NT$410.73 billion, a 17.5% year-over-year increase. Cumulative sales for the first four months of the year reached NT$1.54 trillion, up 29.9% from the prior year.

 

Anthropic: Reports suggest the AI startup is considering raising tens of billions of dollars this summer to aggressively expand its computing power. The move could push the company’s valuation toward the $1 trillion mark.

 

SoftBank & Nvidia: SoftBank Group is reportedly in talks with Nvidia and Foxconn to develop "Made in Japan" AI servers, with plans potentially announced as early as Monday. The group aims to establish an assembly system for external components by 2030 before eventually controlling the full manufacturing process.

 

Apple: Renowned tech reporter Mark Gurman reports that new AirPods equipped with built-in cameras have entered late-stage development. The cameras are reportedly designed to act as "eyes" for the Siri digital assistant rather than for photography or video.

 

Toyota: For the 2025 fiscal year (ending March 2026), Toyota reported record sales of 50.68 trillion yen, up 5.5% year-over-year. However, net profit declined 19.2% to 3.85 trillion yen.

 

SoftBank & OpenAI: SoftBank has reportedly scaled back its target for a margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake from $10 billion to $6 billion, following hesitation from some creditors.

 

Sony & TSMC: Sony Semiconductor Solutions announced a non-binding agreement with TSMC to jointly develop and manufacture next-generation image sensors. The two will form a joint venture to establish production and R&D lines at Sony’s Kumamoto plant in Japan, with Sony acting as the controlling shareholder.