Futures Edge Higher as Tech Giants Diverge and Geopolitical Risks Mount
Gains in U.S. stock futures slackened on Thursday as Wall Street attempted to digest a mixed bag of earnings from Silicon Valley’s biggest players while simultaneously eyeing escalating tensions in the Middle East. Contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 managed to stay in positive territory, both rising roughly 0.2%. Meanwhile, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures hovered just above the flatline, trading at 49,213.00—up 46 points or 0.09%—as the market worked to pare back the sluggishness seen during Wednesday’s session.
The “Magnificent Seven” Divide
The S&P 500 appears to be gearing up for another attempt at topping the 7,000 level, a move largely underpinned by a premarket rally in Meta Platforms. Meta shares surged more than 8% after the company delivered a surprisingly strong quarterly revenue outlook. As the first of the megacap tech stocks to report this season, the company reinforced its commitment to winning the AI race, announcing plans to spend up to $135 billion on data center build-outs this year.
However, the enthusiasm for heavy capital expenditure did not extend to Microsoft. Despite its own higher-than-anticipated spending, Microsoft stock slid nearly 7% as investors reacted negatively to a reported slowdown in quarterly cloud sales growth. Tesla, on the other hand, found favor with the market, gaining over 2%. A strategic narrative shift from electric vehicles to robotics, combined with a quarterly earnings beat, helped investors look past the automaker’s first-ever decline in annual revenue. With the market split, traders are now turning their attention to Apple, which is set to release its quarterly figures after the closing bell.
Safe Havens Rally on War Fears
While tech earnings dominated the headlines, an escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions created a rush for defensive assets. President Trump’s warning that Iran must agree to a nuclear deal quickly or face military strikes has rattled global sentiment. Reports of U.S. ships massing in the region sent crude oil futures climbing, building on Tuesday’s four-month highs.
The geopolitical anxiety also lit a fire under gold prices. The precious metal surged, briefly topping a record $5,500 an ounce, as a declining dollar added fuel to the flight to safety.
Fixed Income Movements
In the bond market, the Fidelity US Bond Index Fund saw a slight decline, trading at $10.55, down 0.01 or 0.09%. This fund continues to serve as a proxy for the broader debt market, seeking investment results that correspond to the aggregate price and interest performance of the debt securities in the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Utilizing statistical sampling techniques, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets in bonds from the Index, resulting in a leveraging effect that tracks the broader performance of the sector.
