Stock index futures rise on UnitedHealth boost; eyes on Trump-Putin meet

[People Walking on the Wall Street]
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Stock index futures rose on Friday, with Dow futures leading the charge, as UnitedHealth got a boost after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it acquired a new stake in the company. Investors also looked forward to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's meeting later in the day.

S&P 500 futures (SPX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPX]) +0.3%, Nasdaq 100 futures (US100:IND [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/US100:IND]) +0.2%, and Dow futures (INDU [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/INDU]) +0.8%.

The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/US10Y]) was flat at 4.29%. The 2-year yield (US2Y [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/US2Y]) rose 1 basis point to 3.73%.

The Omaha-based P&C insurance and investment behemoth acquired 5.04M shares of UnitedHealth (UNH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UNH]) valued at $1.57B at June 30, 2025. UNH was up ~13% in premarket trade.

U.S. stocks finished Thursday's trading session mostly flat, as hopes of progress on Russia and Ukraine countered a hit to sentiment from a significantly hotter-than-expected July PPI report.

"Markets and inflation data yesterday were in many ways a mirror image of that seen on Wednesday, with Treasury yields spiking (10yr +5.1bps) after the Producer Price Index reading came in well above expectations, though the S&P 500 (+0.03%) managed to recover to eke out a third consecutive record high," Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid said.

Looking ahead, the key event today is the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, where the two leaders are expected to discuss Ukraine. The meeting is scheduled for 8:30pm London time, so any developments may emerge after U.S. markets close, Reid added.

On the economic side, retail sales for July. Retail sales are forecasted to be up 0.5% month-on-month and up 0.3 percent ex-autos.

"The July official retail sales number is nominal (so, any tax increases reaching the consumer level will push up the number). July official import prices signal whether U.S. importers are able to offset trade taxes with exporters’ price discounts. For that to be true, import prices need to be falling; they need to be falling more than trend; and they need to be falling more in the U.S. than elsewhere in the world," UBS' Paul Donovan said.

The July Empire State Manufacturing Index will also land before the bell and is expected to slip to 0.5 in August from 5.5 in July.

The Import and Export Prices and Consumer Sentiment report will also be released on Friday.

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