US STOCKS: Wall Street futures mixed ahead of SK Hynix listing

U.S. stock futures were mixed on Friday after a strong rally on Wall Street, as investors awaited the highly anticipated Nasdaq debut of South Korean chip bellwether SK Hynix and assessed the impact of the latest escalations in the Middle East conflict.

The main U.S. indexes closed higher in the previous session, powered by gains in chipmakers. As of Thursday's close, the S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC were on track for weekly gains, with the AI trade back in focus ahead of SK Hynix's 000660.KShigh-profile U.S. listing later on Friday.

The memory-chip maker raised about $26.5 billion, selling its American Depositary Receipts priced at $149. The offering is set to be the world's biggest share sale after SpaceX's SPCX.O record-breaking IPO last month.

"SK Hynix's U.S. listing has arguably come a few months too late as shares in memory chip suppliers have pulled back after a purple patch earlier in the year," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

"However, demand for the U.S. share sale has been stronger than some people might have expected. That implies the memory chip rally might have just taken a breath rather than peaked."

Chipmakers have been among the biggest beneficiaries of this year's AI-driven rally, fueled by expectations of heavy spending on data centers and AI infrastructure. But concerns over stretched valuations and profit taking have recently injected volatility into the sector.

Semiconductor stocks were under pressure in premarket trading, with Intel INTC.O falling about 3%. Memory-chip maker Micron Technology MU.O eased 1.3% after gaining 4.5% in the previous session.

At 06:59 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 124 points, or 0.24%, and S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 1.5 points, or 0.02%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 88.25 points, or 0.29%.

Geopolitical risks also kept investors on edge after the Iranian armed forces launched attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in the Gulf states on Thursday, following U.S. strikes on Iran's southern coastal and eastern provinces.

The latest escalation revived concerns about the inflationary impact of the war.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Thursday he did not expect Middle East hostilities to cause a sustained rise in energy prices for the rest of the year.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to testify before the House Committee on Financial Services next week.

Markets are pricing in at least one 25-basis-point rate hike by the end of 2026, according to LSEG data.

Delta Air Lines DAL.N rose nearly 1% after forecasting third-quarter profit above expectations.

Crypto-related stocks advanced, tracking gains in bitcoin BTC=.

Strategy MSTR.O gained 5.6%, while Coinbase COIN.O and Riot Platforms RIOT.O added 3.9% and 2.3%, respectively.

Earnings are set to gather pace next week, with analysts expecting S&P 500 earnings to rise 24% from a year earlier, with technology companies driving much of the growth, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Shinjini Ganguli)