Wall St futures rise as chipmakers lead gains after a choppy week

U.S. stock index futures climbed as memory chipmakers drove Friday gains while the fourth-quarter earnings season began amid a volatile week for markets.

U.S. stock index futures climbed on Friday as memory chipmakers led gains at the close of a volatile week that also marked the start of the fourth-quarter earnings season. The advance followed strong rallies in memory names during 2025 and came as investors parsed mixed signals across sectors. Broader indexes had recorded fresh highs earlier in the week but were moving toward modest weekly losses. Ongoing policy and data developments added to market caution. Key developments: - The article notes memory chipmakers including Micron, Western Digital, Seagate and SanDisk rose about 3.8% to 6% on Friday. - The iShares Semiconductor ETF gained 1.9% on Friday and is reported to be up nearly 12% so far this year, outpacing the Nasdaq 100's 1.2% rise. - At 7:04 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 10 points (0.02%), S&P 500 E-minis were up 12.25 points (0.18%), and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 130.5 points (0.51%). - The S&P 500 and the Dow reached record closes earlier in the week but indexes were trending toward modest weekly losses by Friday. - The article reports concerns that a proposed one-year cap on credit card interest rates weighed on lenders, and it notes renewed questions about Federal Reserve independence after Chair Jerome Powell said the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into him. - Among individual stocks mentioned, PNC Financial rose 2.8% after beating fourth-quarter revenue estimates, while J.B. Hunt Transport Services fell nearly 5% after reporting a year-over-year revenue dip. Summary: Futures rose as chipmakers helped lead gains, while markets closed a choppy week marked by sector rotation and policy uncertainty. Remarks from Fed officials and U.S. data due later in the day were cited as potential near-term influences. Markets will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and the earnings calendar next week includes results from Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and Intel.