Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during Pershing Square Capital Management LP’s initial public offering (IPO) in New York, US, on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
S&P 500 futures were down early Thursday, following the release of quarterly reports from Big Tech bellwethers.
Futures tied to the broad market index lost 0.22%, while Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.23%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 285 points, or 0.58%.
During the day’s regular session, the blue-chip Dow lost 280.12 points, or 0.57%, to post its fifth losing day in a row. The broader S&P 500 declined 0.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite eked out a 0.04% gain.
Shares of “Magnificent Seven” titan Meta fell following the company’s earnings reports. The Facebook parent fell 7% after its capital expenditures for the first quarter came in below expectations and user growth disappointed.
Shares of Microsoft were little changed after the company posted top and bottom line beats in the third quarter, as well as a 40% surge in revenue from Azure and other cloud services.
Fellow Mag Seven stocks Alphabet and Amazon also posted results after the close on Wednesday. Alphabet added 7% after posting a first-quarter revenue beat and after its Google Cloud revenue topped expectations. Amazon shares advanced about 3% after first-quarter results beat expectations and cloud computing revenue surged.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday after overseas tensions remained high between the United States and Iran. The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reported that President Donald Trump told his aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran. Prices continued their climb after Axios reported that Trump rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying that the U.S. naval blockade will stay in place until the two nations can reach a deal addressing concerns about Tehran’s nuclear program.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve voted to hold interest rates steady in the range of 3.5% to 3.75%, as investors had largely expected, although the 8-4 vote marked the first time four Fed officials have dissented since 1992. The April Fed policy meeting will likely be Fed chair Jerome Powell’s last at the helm before his term ends next month. Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee to succeed Powell, appears on track to take over at the central bank.
Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist with Carson Group, believes that more obstacles are appearing in the path to cut rates.
“The Fed held rates unchanged and we expect that to continue for the rest of this year. Several FOMC members are clearly uncomfortable with rising inflation and want to signal that the next move may not be a cut,” he said in a Wednesday email. “With Powell choosing to stay on as a Fed governor, those in favor of cuts, including incoming Chair Kevin Warsh, are in the minority. Warsh is going to have a hard time convincing a majority to cut rates.”
A slew of economic data is also coming out on Thursday, including the preliminary first-quarter gross domestic product, or GDP, reading. Also due is the personal consumption expenditures report, or PCE — the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation. Powell already said that core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is expected to come in at 3.2% for March. Weekly jobless claims are also slated for release.
More earnings are expected Thursday morning, from big names such as Caterpillar, Merck, Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Consumer tech giant Apple is scheduled to report in the afternoon.
Thursday also marks the final trading day of April, a month that has seen a surge for tech names. The S&P 500 is on pace for a 9.3% advance, while the Nasdaq is heading for a 14.3% jump. Both indexes are on track for their best month since 2020. The Dow is set to end April with a 5.4% gain, its strongest monthly performance since November 2024.
