Dow Futures Rise As Big Tech Earnings Boost Investor Optimism: MSFT, META, F, AAPL, AMZN, CVNA Among Stocks To Watch

U.S. stocks appear set for a positive opening on Thursday as better-than-expected earnings from big technology companies boosted investor sentiment.

The latest quarterly earnings from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Meta Platforms Inc. (META) blew past Wall Street expectations, spurring optimism about artificial intelligence demand going forward.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, in line with market expectations, maintaining the federal funds rate in the 4.25% to 4.5% range.

While Dow Jones futures were up 0.18% at the time of writing, the S&P 500 futures surged 0.88%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100’s futures gained 1.31%. Futures of the Russell 2000 index were down 0.49%.

Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) gained 0.88% at the time of writing, while Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was up 1.24% on Thursday morning. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory.

Asian markets ended Thursday’s trading session on a largely negative note, with the Hang Seng index declining the most at 1.77%, followed by the Shanghai Composite at 1.19%, and the KOSPI at 0.28%.

The Nikkei 225 rose 1.1%, while the TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock index gained 0.34%.

Stocks To Watch

• Microsoft Corp. (MSFT): Microsoft shares surged over 8% in Thursday’s pre-market trading session after the company’s fourth-quarter (Q4) results beat Wall Street estimates. The Windows-maker’s earnings per share (EPS) stood at $3.65 on revenue of $76.44 billion, compared to an expected EPS of $3.37 on revenue of $73.86 billion.
• Meta Platforms Inc. (META): Meta shares surged nearly 12% in the pre-market session, following the company’s second-quarter (Q2) results. It reported an EPS of $7.14 on revenue of $47.52 billion, while Wall Street expected an EPS of $5.88 on revenue of $44.81 billion.
• Ford Motor Co. (F): Ford said it expects a $2 billion blow from President Trump’s tariffs, an increase from its previous projection of a $1.5 billion hit.
• Carvana Co. (CVNA): The used-car seller’s shares popped over 16% pre-market after the company’s second-quarter results surpassed Wall Street expectations.
• Apple Inc. (AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), and Mastercard Inc. (MA) are among the companies reporting their latest results on Thursday.

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