Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Gain Ahead Of Kevin Warsh’s First Fed Meeting: Why SPCX, ASTS, INTC, MU, SOFI, SMCI Are In Focus

• All eyes are on the Federal Reserve’s policy decision and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s first meeting at the helm. 
• Investors will focus on commentary around inflation, AI-driven productivity gains, and balance-sheet reduction plans.
• Cautious optimism follows another record close for the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday.

U.S. stock futures rose ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision today, building on momentum from the previous session, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average notch its second straight all-time closing high. 

Investors are locked onto newly appointed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's first policy meeting today. While rates are expected to remain unchanged, Warsh’s stance on AI as a disinflationary force and his desire to shrink the Fed’s balance sheet could spark market volatility, according to Dan Niles, founder of Niles Investment Management.

As of 4:00 a.m. ET, Nasdaq futures rose 0.9%, S&P 500 and Russell 2000 futures gained 0.3%, while Dow futures were flat. 

However, on Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, has flipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘bearish’ a day ago, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has improved to ‘neutral’ from ‘bearish’.

Trending Stocks To Watch

SpaceX (SPCX) stock surged roughly 50% from the $135 IPO price and briefly surpassed both Microsoft and Amazon in market capitalization before settling as the fifth-most valuable U.S. company on Tuesday. 

Rocket Lab USA (RKLB): Stock rose 2% in early premarket trade despite announcing a delay for its upcoming 90th Electron flight to complete extra pre-flight checkouts on the Synspective satellite payload. 

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS): Shares rose 5% in early premarket trade ahead of its high-stakes launch tonight from Cape Canaveral, aiming to deploy three massive Block 2 BlueBird satellites. 

SoFi Technologies (SOFI) is on the retail radar after CEO Anthony Noto disclosed an insider buy of an additional $250,000 in shares, bringing his total 2026 investments to $2.3 million. 

Intel Corp (INTC) stock rose 4% in early premarket after announcing production on its advanced 18A-P chip node.

Microsoft (MSFT): Reports revealed Microsoft walked away from a $3 billion Oracle cloud lease over security issues. 

Nvidia (NVDA), AMD, Alphabet (GOOGL): Samsung is reportedly in active talks with foundries to manufacture AMD CPUs by 2028. Separately, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined Coherent executives to break ground on a new U.S. laser manufacturing facility on Tuesday. 

Micron (MU), SanDisk (SNDK): According to reports, South Korean supplier SK Hynix is planning a $10–$14 billion U.S. ADR listing on Nasdaq as early as August. 

CrowdStrike (CRWD) holds its annual shareholder meeting today.

Amazon (AMZN) drew attention following a Bloomberg report that the company could face billions of dollars in penalties from a potential FTC advertising-related lawsuit.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI): A newly filed Schedule 13G revealed that Jane Street has taken a major stake in the company. 

Dell Technologies (DELL): The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share, payable on July 31 to shareholders of record as of July 21. 

ImmunityBio (IBRX) is garnering retail attention ahead of the Russell index reconstitution later this month, with investors anticipating passive fund inflows as the company potentially graduates into the Russell 1000 Index.

Lionsgate Studios (LION) fell 5% in early premarket trade following media reports that officially refuted earlier rumors of acquisition interest from streaming giant Netflix (NFLX). 

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Robinhood Markets (HOOD), and IonQ Inc (IONQ). 

Other Catalysts To Watch

On the economic front, investors are tracking the release of the retail sales at 8:30 am ET.  The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy statement will be released at 2:00 pm ET, followed by a press conference. 

On earnings radar, watch out for quarterly reports from CarMax Inc (KMX), Jabil Inc (JBL), Smith & Wesson Brands Inc (SWBI), Safe Bulkers Inc (SB), and Cheetah Mobile (CMCM), among others. 

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