S&P 500 futures edged higher early Wednesday as investors looked ahead to key earnings from four “Magnificent Seven” companies and the outcome of what could be Jerome Powell’s final Federal Reserve policy meeting as chair.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.21%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.51%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 91 points, or 0.18%.
In after-hours trading, Starbucks surged 5% after lifting its full-year guidance, while Robinhood dropped 9% on weaker-than-expected first-quarter results. Meanwhile, Seagate Technology and NXP Semiconductors jumped around 16% each after reporting strong earnings and upbeat revenue forecasts.
During Tuesday’s session, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite pulled back from record highs. The S&P 500 declined 0.49%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.9%, while the Dow slipped 25.86 points, or 0.05%.
Technology stocks led the decline following a report from The Wall Street Journal indicating that OpenAI missed its internal revenue and user growth targets. Oracle, which has a $300 billion, five-year deal to provide computing power to OpenAI, dropped 4%, while Broadcom fell 4% and Nvidia declined more than 1%.
Attention now turns to earnings from Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, all set to report after Wednesday’s close. Investors are closely watching whether these companies can deliver results that justify their heavy investments in artificial intelligence.
Markets are also awaiting the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s April meeting, expected to be Powell’s last before his term ends in May, with Kevin Warsh seen as his likely successor. The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed after Wall Street’s overnight decline, as investors weighed developments around OPEC and concerns over OpenAI’s outlook. Adding to the backdrop, the United Arab Emirates is set to exit OPEC on May 1, marking a significant shift for the oil-producing alliance.
