Stock futures are pointing to a mixed open for major U.S. indexes on Friday as a sharp decline in shares of UnitedHealth Group is set to weigh heavily on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Futures tied to the Dow were down 0.6% about half an hour before the opening bell, while those linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively. UnitedHealth (UNH) shares were down 13% in premarket trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice is investigating the health insurer’s Medicare billing practices. Shares of other insurers, including CVS Health (CVS), Humana (HUM), Cigna (CI) and Centene (CNC) also fell sharply. Shares of large-cap technology companies were higher across the board this morning. Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA) and Broadcom (AVGO) were all gaining ground. A handful of stocks were making big moves after the release of earnings reports. Cloud storage provider Dropbox (DBX) and fintech company Block (XYZ) were down 7% and 10%, respectively, while beverages company Celsius Holdings (CELH) soared 33%, e-commerce company MercadoLibre (MELI) jumped 12% and travel platform Booking (BKNG) added 4%. Among other noteworthy movers, Coinbase (COIN) was up 5% after the crypto exchange said the Securities and Exchange Commission will drop an enforcement case against the company. Bitcoin was at $99,300 this morning, up from around $98,000 late yesterday and trading at its highest level since Feb. 4. Gold futures were down 0.3% at $2,945 an ounce, after hitting a record high on Thursday, while West Texas intermediate crude oil futures slid 0.5% to $72.15 per barrel. — news from Investopedia
