Futures mixed as chip equipment, auto stocks decline; rate-pause hopes support sentiment

 Wall Street index futures were mixed on Friday as shares of Ford and General Motors as well as chip-equipment makers declined in premarket trading, while investors remained optimistic about a likely pause in U.S. interest-rate hikes.

Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Corp dropped over 2% each after Reuters reported Taiwan's TSMC, the world's top chipmaker, had asked vendors to delay delivery of high-end chipmaking equipment, weighing down Nasdaq futures.

Automakers Ford Motor and General Motors shed 2% each before the bell after the United Auto Workers union launched simultaneous strikes at three factories owned by the "Detroit Three", including Chrysler-owner Stellantis, marking the most ambitious U.S. industrial labor action in decades.

SoftBank's Arm Holdings gained 8.7% in premarket trading after a stellar Nasdaq debut on Thursday, rekindling hopes of a turnaround in the initial public offering (IPO) market.

"Move aside Nvidia, there's a new player in town and its name is Arm," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

"When a stock goes up 25% in a day, there will naturally be FOMO among investors – fear of missing out. That might explain why its shares look like they will jump again today."

Arm's successful premiere has prompted grocery-delivery company Instacart to raise its IPO target price, according to a report.

Investors are also focused on Neumora Therapeutics' debut later in the day after the SoftBank-backed firm raised $250 mln in its U.S. IPO.

Wall Street's main indexes gained on Thursday after hotter-than-expected economic data eased worries about a recession without raising fears of a U.S. interest rate hike next week.

Traders see a 97% chance of the Federal Reserve holding rates steady in its Sept. 20 policy meeting and a near 65% likelihood of a pause in November, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Investors will monitor August industrial production and the University of Michigan's preliminary reading of consumer sentiment due later in the day.

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