Here are five things you must know for Friday, May 13:
1. -- Stock Futures Moved Higher As Powell Rate Soothe Rate Betting Bulls
U.S. equity moved higher Friday, potentially snapping a six-day losing streak for the Dow, as investors looked to an ease in market volatility amid stabilizing cryptocurrency prices and detailed comments on near-term rates hikes from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Speaking with the Marketplace public radio show, Powell essentially confirmed the case for 50 basis point rate hikes at the next two policy meetings in June and July "“if the economy performs about as expected" and reiterated his view that a 75 basis point hike isn't being 'actively considered".
Bets on a bigger move, given the surprising strength of underlying inflation found in core consumer prices last month, remained elevated, with the CME Group's FedWatch tool pegging the chances at around 12.8% for June and 12% for July.
Still, the broader assurance on the Fed's rate path looks to have at least neutralized one of the market's major concerns this week, while the other -- the ongoing upheaval in crypto prices -- has also calmed, with bitcoin climbing 5.3% in overnight trading to move past the $30,000 mark.
Evidence of a modestly firmer 'risk on' sentiment was seen in a pullback for the U.S. dollar, which traded at 104.55 against a basket of its global peers and remains on pace for its longest stretch of weekly gains in four years,
The CBOE's benchmark volatility gauge, the VIX, was also in retreat, falling 5.7% in European hours trading to 30.70 points.
On Wall Street, futures contacts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicating a 220 point opening bell gain while those linked the S&P 500, which is down 17.5% for the year, are priced for a 40 point move to the downside Futures linked to the Nasdaq are looking at a 195 point jump.
2. -- Twitter Shares Plunge as Elon Musk Says $44 Billion Takeover 'On Hold'
Twitter (TWTR) shares plunged lower in pre-market trading after Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said his $44 billion takeover of the social media group was "temporarily on hold".
Musk, who has looked to alter the financing of his 'take private' deal on a number of occasions, bringing in new equity investors and reportedly soliciting others to reduce the exposure of the $62.5 billion worth of Tesla shares he's pledged against margin loans, made the declaration through his verified Twitter account early on Friday in response to a Reuters story from May 2.
"Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users," Musk said.
Twitter shares 20.7% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $35.80 each. Tesla shares, meanwhile, surged 6.44% to $774.90 each.
3. -- Bitcoin Prices Move Higher As Stablecoin Market Finds Footing
Bitcoin prices moved back over the $30,000 mark in overnight trading amid a broader steadying of sentiment in global crypto markets following the collapse this week of the TerraUSD stable coin.
TerraUSD, which uses an algorithm to maintain a one-to-one peg against the U.S. dollar, fell to as low as 23 cents against the greenback earlier this week, triggering forced selling in its paired digital currency, Luna, and sparking concerns of a run on other so-called stablecoins in the $100 billion global market.
Tether, the largest and most popular stablecoin, 'broke the buck' earlier this week, but looks to have stabilized just under the $1 mark on Friday as Terraform Labs halted restarted -- and then halted -- its Terra blockchain as it vowed to "come up with a plan to reconstitute” the marketplace.
Bitcoin was last seen trading 4.8% higher on the session at $30,339.90 each.
4. -- Robinhood Shares Surge As FTX CEO Bankman-Fried Builds 7.6% Stake
Robinhood Markets (HOOD) shares surged higher in pre-market trading after the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX revealed a 7.6% stake in the online trading platform.
Samuel Bankman-Fried made his investment public late Thursday in an SEC filing, but noted he wasn't planning to build a controlling stake in the beaten-down trading platform. Robinhood, via its verified Twitter account, said Bankman-Fried's move was "an attractive investment."
"We have the best customer base, are introducing great new products, and we have the team to deliver," Robinhood said. "Our journey is just beginning."
Robinhood shares were marked 21% higher in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $10.36 each.
5. -- General Electric Shares Jump As CFO Sees Second Half Rebound
General Electric (GE) shares moved higher in pre-market trading as investors reacted to comments from CFO Carolina Dybeck Happe that suggested the industrial group would see a broad improvement in cash flow over the second half of the year.
Dybeck Happe told the Goldman Sachs Industrials & Materials Conference that, while "nothing is certain in an environment where so much is changing day to day" she was confident that the group would see "a path to significant growth in the second half."
Last month, CEO Larry Culp said supply chain demand and inflation pressures were likely to persist into the current quarter, noting the full-year profit forecast will is trending towards the lower end of its January guidance.
GE confirmed its 2022 forecasts, which it first published in January and reiterated last month saying it expects adjusted earnings in the region of $2.80 to $3.50 per share for the full year -- albeit at the lower end -- while generating free cash flow in the region of $5.5 billion to $6.5 billion, a figure that will improve to $7 billion in 2023.
General Electric shares were marked 2.35% higher in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $75.00 each.
