U.S. stock futures were flat Friday as investors grappled with ongoing tariff uncertainty and awaited the release of a key inflation measure.

February’s personal consumption expenditures price index is due at 8:30 a.m. ET and could confirm whether investors should be concerned about sticky inflation, especially after the Federal Reserve recently raised its inflation forecast. Economists polled by Dow Jones see the headline PCE price index reading rising 0.3% in February and 2.5% from 12 months earlier.

Market Snapshot

At 7:52 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 60 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures traded 0.3% lower. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. rose 8%, SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC rose 2%.

Pre-Market Movers

Tesla Motors rose 1% in premarket trading after the stock closed Thursday with a gain of 0.4% in what was a tough session for auto makers following President Donald Trump's announcement he would be levying 25% tariffs on all cars and certain car parts made outside of the U.S. Tesla, the electric-vehicle manufacturer, edged higher because it makes all the cars it sells in the U.S. in America. But General Motors, Ford Motor, and Jeep maker Stellantis don't and their stocks declined 7.4%, 3.9%, and 1.3%. In premarket trading, GM fell 1%, Ford was off 0.2%, and Stellantis fell 2%.

NVIDIA was up slightly in premarket trading after the maker of artificial-intelligence chips fell 2.1% on Thursday on concerns over its business in China.

Meanwhile, the initial public offering for CoreWeave, the Nvidia-backed cloud services provider, was priced at $40 a share, well below estimates of $47 to $55. The stock will begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq exchange under ticker symbol "CRWV." CoreWeave is a pure play on AI, with all of its revenue coming from cloud rentals of AI servers that use Nvidia chips.

AppLovin Corporation was up 8% in premarket trading, a day after shares of the advertising technology company slumped 20% following a report from short-seller Muddy Waters Research that it had taken a short position in the stock. In late February, short-sellers Fuzzy Panda Research and Culper Research also issued negative reports on the company. AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi said at the time in a blog post that it was "disappointing that a few nefarious short-sellers are making false and misleading claims aimed at undermining our success."

Lululemon Athletica Athletica fell 12% after the activewear company reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street expectations but fiscal-year guidance came up short of forecasts. Lululemon said it expects sales for the fiscal year ending in January of $11.15 billion to $11.3 billion, representing growth of 5% to 7%. But analysts had been projecting a revenue increase of 7% to $11.3 billion. CEO Calvin McDonald said the company believes "the dynamic macro environment has contributed to a more cautious consumer."

U.S. Steel rose 4% after a report said the company's $14 billion merger with Japan's Nippon Steel could still be saved. The two companies are in talks with President Trump, with Nippon Steel offering to more than double an investment in U.S. Steel facilities to $7 billion from $2.7 billion, Semafor reported.

Braze, Inc. jumped 10% after the cloud-based software company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates and issued better-than-expected fiscal-year guidance.

Oxford declined 12% after the owner of Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer issued revenue forecasts for its fiscal first quarter and fiscal year that missed analysts' expectations. Following a strong finish to calendar year 2024, trends moderated in January as there was less of a reason to shop, a pattern we've witnessed for the past several quarters, as well as a deterioration in consumer sentiment that also weighed on demand," said Chairman and CEO Tom Chubb in a statement.

Market News

Chinese EVs’ Market Share Across Europe Drops to Two-Year Low

Chinese automakers missed out on a European rebound in EV demand last month, as more-established manufacturers like Volkswagen AG captured the biggest part of a jump in sales.

Just 6.9% of electric vehicles registered in the region in February were made by Chinese companies, based on data from automotive researcher Dataforce. That’s well below January’s 7.8% and the lowest since February 2023.

Carmakers led by BYD Co. and SAIC Motor Corp.’s MG have been working to build the region into an export stronghold, but hit a wall when the European Union imposed tariffs on Chinese-made EVs last year. The trade barrier has caused a leveling-off of Chinese market share after years of rapid growth.

Elliott Takes Big Short Position in Shell Amid BP Campaign

U.S. activist hedge fund Elliott Management, currently campaigning for more change at BP PLC in its capacity as a BP shareholder, has taken a big short position in Shell, according to financial filings.

Elliott's short position, which is designed to make money if Shell's share price falls, amounts to about 0.5% of Shell, according to data published on the website of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Thursday. That is the biggest short position in the company since 2016, the data showed.