(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday after President Donald Trump’s temporary pick for a Federal Reserve governor fueled expectations of a more dovish central bank board.
Trump said on Thursday he would nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran as Fed Governor Adriana Kugler’s interim replacement, following Kugler’s surprise resignation last week.
U.S. stocks lost steam on Thursday after Bloomberg News reported that Fed Governor Christopher Waller is emerging as a top candidate to be the central bank’s next chair.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates and has accelerated the search for a replacement after several retracted threats to oust Powell before his term ends on May 15.
The White House’s push to overhaul the central bank’s leadership has fueled worries about its independence. At the same time, investors believe revising Fed leadership could favor looser monetary policy that aligns with Trump’s agenda.
According to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, traders broadly expect the Fed’s first rate cut of the year next month and see at least two reductions by year-end.
At 5:31 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 16 points, or 0.25%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 72.25 points, or 0.31% and Dow E-minis were up 61 points, or 0.14%.
The Nasdaq eked out a record closing high on Thursday after signs that major technology firms could avoid Trump’s new tariffs on chip imports by manufacturing in the United States.
But the S&P 500 and the Dow ended lower, weighed down by a 14.1% drop in Eli Lilly after results from a late-stage study on its experimental GLP-1 pill fell behind that of Novo Nordisk’s.
Meanwhile, U.S. tariffs on a bunch of trading partners took effect at midnight on Thursday. Tokyo’s trade negotiator said Washington will amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods, terming it as oversight.
In earnings-related moves, Trade Desk sank 29% in premarket trading after the ad-tech firm reported a sharp slowdown in second-quarter revenue growth.
Pinterest tumbled 12.5% as the social media platform missed analysts’ estimates for second-quarter profit.
Microchip Technology lost 7.9% after the chipmaker’s first-quarter results failed to impress investors.
St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem is scheduled to speak later at 10:20 a.m. ET.
(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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