Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Slip As Trump Warns Iran Over Hormuz Shipping: Why PLTR, NOW, CAR, SNDK, EOSE Are Trending After-Hours

• Trump warned Iran against charging transit fees through Hormuz and said U.S. forces would remain deployed until a “real agreement” is implemented.
• Israeli strikes in Lebanon and fresh drone attacks by Iran-linked groups targeting facilities in Kuwait added to escalation risks.
• A Stocktwits poll showed that investors remain split on whether markets have bottomed, with sentiment nearly evenly divided between bullish and bearish expectations.

U.S. stock futures slipped late Thursday as uncertainty persisted around shipping through the Strait of Hormuz ahead of U.S.-Iran talks this weekend, while investors also prepared for key inflation data.

As of 8.40 p.m. ET, Nasdaq 100, while S&P 500, and Dow futures were down 0.1%.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was ‘extremely bearish’ amid ‘high’ message volume, while sentiment toward the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) was ‘bearish’ amid ‘low’ message volume.

US Market Drivers

Markets reacted to renewed tensions around the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran against charging fees for vessels transiting the waterway and said Tehran was doing a “very poor” job allowing oil shipments to pass, raising fresh doubts about progress towards reopening the route.

The strait remains effectively shut, with shipping traffic still far below pre-war levels despite temporary corridors being announced. Israeli strikes targeting Tehran-aligned Hezbollah militants in Lebanon continued to dampen ceasefire prospects, while fresh drone attacks by Iran and its regional proxies targeting facilities in Kuwait added to the escalation ahead of the U.S.-Iran talks this weekend in Islamabad led by Vice President J.D. Vance.

Trump also said U.S. military personnel would remain deployed in the region until a “real agreement” is fully implemented, even though he expressed optimism about a broader deal with Tehran.

Oil prices remained elevated amid the uncertainty. West Texas Intermediate crude settled above $97 per barrel after earlier rising past $100 intraday, while Brent crude closed at $95.92.

The Dow turned positive for 2026 after Thursday’s gains, while the S&P 500 extended its winning streak to seven sessions, its longest since October. The three major averages remain on track for strong weekly gains:

A separate Stocktwits poll showed that investors remained almost evenly split between expectations that the market has already bottomed and views that further downside may still lie ahead. About 39% of traders see that the bottom is already in place, 38% expect further downside, and 23% say it is too early to tell, based on over 7,400 votes.

On the other hand, data released Thursday showed U.S. consumer spending barely rose in February amid inflation pressures, while recurring applications for jobless benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly two years.

Goldman Sachs said commodity trading advisors could buy $34 billion of S&P 500 stock over the next week at current market levels, reversing $30 billion in short positioning and potentially shifting exposure to net long. The firm also noted that the S&P 500 market-on-close imbalance registered about $3.8 billion to buy in the most recent session, according to a report by Investing.

Trending Stocks To Watch On NYSE, Nasdaq

Palantir Technologies (PLTR): Shares logged their worst session in nearly two months on Thursday after ace investor Michael Burry highlighted Anthropic’s rapid rise in enterprise AI adoption. However, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives pushed back on X, saying the concerns are “fictional” and added that Palantir remains at the “epicenter of leaders in the AI revolution.”

ServiceNow (NOW): Shares fell over 1% in extended trading after UBS downgraded the stock to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’ and cut its price target to $100 from $170. The move comes as Anthropic’s $30 billion revenue run-rate and new agentic AI updates revived competitive concerns across enterprise software firms.

Avis Budget Group (CAR): The stock hit an all-time high on Thursday amid a short squeeze flagged earlier this week by Deutsche Bank, which said high short interest and options disclosures by Pentwater Capital likely helped drive the rally, with shares more than doubling since March.

SanDisk (SNDK): Shares reached an all-time high on Thursday after Bernstein raised its price target to $1,250 from $1,000 and reiterated an ‘Outperform’ rating, citing stronger-than-expected NAND pricing and a firm memory market. The brokerage also named the stock a top short-term pick ahead of results due April 30.

Eos Energy Enterprises (EOSE): Shares posted their best session in nearly a year Thursday and gained about 2% in after-hours trading as the company guided for first-quarter revenue of $56 million to $57 million, representing a 433% growth from the previous year driven by record shipments and production gains.

How Global Markets Are Performing Today

In broader markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note held near 4.3% on Thursday, hovering around its lowest level since mid-March, while gold traded near $4,766 an ounce.

Asian markets were mixed early Friday, with MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index outside Japan down 0.7% as Japanese equities opened higher, while Australian markets traded lower.

Among the catalysts for Friday are the March consumer price index report, core CPI readings, factory orders data and preliminary consumer sentiment figures.

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