Stocks set to open lower
U.S. stock markets are expected to open lower on Friday, following two huge days of gains that came after the conclusion of a meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday.
As of 5:40 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average were indicated 80 points, or 0.23% to 34,564.
S&P 500 futures dropped 15 points, or 0.34% to 4,423 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gave away 74.50 points, or 0.49% to 15,229.
The Dow rallied 507 points, or 1.48%, to close at 34,765 on Thursday, notching its biggest two-day gain since March 8. The S&P 500 climbed 53 points, or 1.21%, to close at 4,449, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 155 points, or 1.04%, to finish the session at 15,052.
Nike shares slip on revenue miss and lowered guidance
Meanwhile, Nike (NYSE: NKE) shares are under pressure after the sneaker maker posted stronger-than-anticipated first-quarter earnings, but fell short of revenue estimates and provided a downbeat outlook.
Nike said late Thursday that it earned $1.9 billion, or $1.16 per share, in the first quarter and generated revenues of $12.2 billion. Analysts expected the company to have earned $1.12 per share on revenue of $12.46 billion.
The company slashed its fiscal 2022 revenue outlook to the “mid single digits,” from its previous guidance of “low double digit growth,” citing “lost weeks of production combined with longer transit times” that “will lead to short-term inventory shortages in the marketplace for the next few quarters.”
Nike stock lost $8.52, or 5.34% to change hands at $151.06 a share in Friday’s premarket trading session.
Alibaba plans to divest stake in Chinese TV network amid Beijing pressure
In other news, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is reportedly planning to offload its 5% stake in China’s Mango Excellent Media after Beijing officials amplified their scrutiny over media and the technology industry.
The e-commerce titan acquired the stake late last year at a price of 66.23 yuan per share through a transfer agreement.
Mango Excellent runs the commercial assets of streaming platform Mango TV, which is widely popular in China for its variety shows.
Alibaba now intends to sell the stake at an estimated loss of 2.3 billion yuan ($356 million), according to the South China Morning Post, which cited a corporate filing by Mango Excellent to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange published on Friday.
New York-listed Alibaba stock was down $2.84, or 1.88% per share in the premarket trading session on Friday.
China’s central bank takes aim at crypto transactions
Sticking with China, the country’s central bank said early Friday that all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, an announcement that sent Bitcoin and its peers sharply lower.
According to a statement posted on the website of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are not fiat currency and cannot be circulated on the market.
The statement added that the central bank will ban internet platforms, payment companies, and financial institutions from facilitating crypto trading.
As of this writing, Bitcoin price was marked 5.84% lower to $41,231 a coin. Ethereum lost 10.4% of its value to $2,766.20 a coin. Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Litecoin and Ripple gave away 10.23%, 10.16%, 10.89% and 8.28%, respectively.
