U.S. stocks traded in a mixed manner Friday, stabilizing to a degree from the previous session’s losses after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a softer stance to trade negotiations with China, boosting sentiment after investors had been hit by worries over the health of the country’s regional lenders.
At 09:45 ET (13:45 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 25 points, or 0.1%, higher, while the S&P 500 index dropped 25 points, or 0.4%, and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 115 points, or 0.5%.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government shutdown, now in its third week, continued to weigh on confidence, disrupting economic data releases and raising concerns about near-term growth.
Softer trade stance with China
President Donald Trump indicated Friday that the high tariffs imposed on Chinese goods will not remain in place long-term, signaling a potential shift in U.S.-China trade relations ahead of his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"It’s not sustainable," Trump said in an interview with Fox Business when asked whether the current tariff levels could remain. "It could stand, but they forced me to do that."
Trump revealed he will meet with Xi in South Korea in two weeks, suggesting the encounter could lead to trade negotiations. "I think we’ll be fine with China," Trump stated during the interview, a clip of which aired Friday.
The comments come after Trump threatened last week to impose additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goods starting November 1, along with other trade measures against China. These threats were in response to Chinese restrictions on rare earth mineral exports.
Banking sector in spotlight
Sentiment had been hit hard on Thursday, after Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) and Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) disclosed loan losses tied to potential fraud, reviving fears of weak credit oversight across smaller lenders.
Uneasiness in the banking sector has grown after the recent bankruptcies of two auto industry-related companies.
Friday offered more opportunities to gauge how regional banks are faring.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) reported a 14% jump in third-quarter profit on the back of robust fee income, but booked a $178 million loss related to the bankruptcy of auto dealer Tricolor.
Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) reported a rise in third-quarter profit on Friday, benefiting from stronger capital markets and higher income from interests.
Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) reported third quarter 2025 earnings that exceeded analyst expectations, driven by robust fee income growth and healthy loan expansion.
Elsewhere, Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) provided the latest glimpse into the state of the artificial intelligence euphoria, unveiling a soaring long-term financial outlook that the software group said was being powered by sky-high demand that is "really hard to comprehend."
Railroad operator CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) posted a steep slide in third-quarter profit compared to a year ago, but, when discounting one-time impairment charges of $164 million, income would have stood at $818 million, just above Wall Street forecasts.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) plans to stop supplying server chips to data centers in China after the business was slapped with a government ban in 2023, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two people briefed on the decision.
Oil set for weekly losses
Oil prices stabilized Friday after Trump’s comments on Chinese trade negotiations
Brent futures dropped 0.2% to $60.97 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.2% to $57.35 a barrel.
That said, both contracts were down around 3% on a weekly basis, falling to their weakest level since early May after Trump and Putin agreed to another summit on the war in Ukraine, with the meeting expected to be held within the next two weeks in Budapest.
Source :
https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/us-stock-futures-tick-down-after-wall-st-slips-on-regional-bank-worries-4293597
