U.S. stocks appear poised for a positive opening on Friday despite the ongoing shutdown of the U.S. government, driven by optimism in the artificial intelligence sector. AI bellwether Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) hit a new all-time high on Thursday, with other semiconductor players like Intel Corp. (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) also experiencing a surge.

While Dow Jones futures were up by 0.22% at the time of writing, the S & P 500 futures rose 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100's futures declined 0.21%. Futures of the Russell 2000 index fell 0.39%.

Meanwhile, the SPDR S & P 500 ETF (SPY) was up 0.22% at the time of writing, while Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.2% on Friday morning. Retail sentiment around the S & P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the 'neutral' territory.

Asian markets ended Friday's trading session on a largely positive note, with the Nikkei 225 leading with gains of 1.8%, followed by the TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock index at 1.43%, and the Shanghai Composite at 0.52%.

The Hang Seng index declined 0.54%, while the KOSPI was closed for trading due to the National Day holiday.

Stocks To Watch

• Tesla Inc. (TSLA): Tesla shares rose over 1% in Friday's pre-market trade after falling more than 5% on Thursday. According to TheFly, analysts at UBS stated that Tesla's deliveries during the third quarter (Q3) exceeded expectations.
• Nvidia Corp. (NVDA): Nvidia's multi-billion-dollar deal with the United Arab Emirates is in limbo, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Nvidia's shares edged up by 0.3% pre-market.
• Boeing Co. (BA): Boeing's shares edged lower by 0.34% in Friday's pre-market session amid reports that its 777X aircraft's commercial launch has been pushed back to 2027 from 2026, according to Bloomberg.
• Chevron Corp. (CVX): A large fire broke out at Chevron's El Segundo refinery in Los Angeles County late on Thursday. Chevron's shares edged lower by 0.16%.

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