8am: US stocks set to start lower
US stocks are expected to start open lower on Friday as investors continue to digest the House of Representatives' passing of President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' by a single vote.
Nasdaq futures were 0.4% down ahead of the open, with those for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 both around 0.3% lower.
Gold continued to hold firm, gaining 1% to $3,327.08.
US stocks finished Thursday's session little changed as investors weighed up the latest updates from the White House, including a new tax and spending package.
The S&P 500 closed down 2 points, the Dow Jones shed a single point, while the Nasdaq added 0.3%.
US Treasury yields fell slightly on Friday but stayed at relatively high levels as investors weighed the economic effects of President Trump's tax plan.
The yield on the 30-year Treasury dropped by 5 basis points to 5.01%, while the 10-year also declined by 5 basis points, settling at 4.50%. The 2-year yield slipped 3 basis points to 3.97%
Swissquote Bank's Ipek Ozkardeskaya said "the news is far from reassuring" for a sustainable relief.
"US politicians continue to turn a blind eye to the stress building in the sovereign bond space," she commented. "The House of Representatives passed Trump's 'beautiful' tax bill yesterday -- with just one vote. But one vote is all it takes to send the bill to the Senate, which is narrowly controlled by the same Republicans who proposed it."
The bill proposes slashing spending on social programmes and green initiatives to pay for tax cuts. But even if it clears the Senate, it still has to win over bond markets. With US debt piling up, Treasury investors are growing uneasy and may demand higher yields to back Trump's budget plans.
Ahead of the US open, European markets reversed earlier gains. London's FTSE 100 was 0.1% lower, Frankfurt's DAX was just 0.1% higher and the Paris CAC 40 was down 0.52%.
Asian markets were mixed overnight. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.47%, the BSE Sensex in India has added 1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 0.24%. But the Shanghai Composite has dropped 0.94%.