Nasdaq, S&P 500, Dow Futures Slip As Nvidia China Plan Disappoints, SpaceX IPO Looms: TSLA, APLD, NVDA, RKLB, BABA Stocks In Focus

• Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company SpaceX also filed its much-awaited S-1 registration statement with the SEC on Wednesday.
• While markets closed higher, Nasdaq 100, Dow, and S&P 500 futures slipped lower in the overnight trade.
• Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s April meeting indicated that the central bank officials discussed rate hike possibilities.

U.S. stock futures slipped in the overnight trading session heading into Thursday after Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) posted earnings results that failed to impress investors, even as SpaceX filed its S-1 IPO prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nasdaq 100 was down 0.19%, while Dow futures and S&P 500 futures fell 0.17% as of 10.44 p.m ET.  

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) all traded lower at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), also slipped about 0.07% amid ‘neutral’ sentiment.

How Did US Markets Fare?

On Wednesday, benchmark indexes closed higher amid declining oil prices and easing Treasury yields. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the climb, adding nearly 400 points to end 1.54% higher. The Dow Jones index closed up 1.31%, while the S&P 500 was up 1.08% at close.

US Market Drivers

U.S. stock markets were tuned in to Nvidia’s earnings results for insight into the artificial intelligence sector. While the company’s results beat both top- and bottom-line expectations, and the chipmaker also issued strong forward guidance, markets were not impressed with the company’s plans on China. Nvidia shares slipped about 1% in extended trading hours.

Shortly after the results, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company SpaceX filed its much-awaited S-1 registration statement with the SEC. While the preliminary statement did not provide a specific timeline for the public debut or other details about the IPO, it revealed a dual-class share structure designed to preserve Musk’s control. It also provided a glimpse into the company’s financials, revealing revenue of $18.674 billion for 2025 and $4.694 billion for the first quarter of 2026.

Earlier in the day, stock markets closed higher as oil prices declined and Treasury yields cooled off amid suggestions from President Donald Trump that a resolution with Iran was coming soon.

Meanwhile, minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) April meeting indicated rate hike possibilities amid rising inflation. “A majority of participants highlighted, however, that some policy firming would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue to run persistently above 2 percent,” it said.

“The market is coming off a really strong earnings season that delivered positive revisions to earnings expectations, but concerns around inflation and demand destruction in the economy are proving persistent,” Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X ETFs, reportedly told CNBC.

On Thursday, markets will be watching for Walmart's earnings results. On the economic front, initial jobless claims and April’s housing starts and building permits are due.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Tesla Inc. (TSLA): Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company jumped onto the retail radar as the buzz around SpaceX’s IPO spilled over to Tesla. The automaker owns about 19 million shares of SpaceX Class A common stock. Shares of the company jumped over 1.3% overnight.

Applied Digital Corporation (APLD): Shares of the Dallas-based company closed up nearly 8% and continued to climb overnight after it announced a significant milestone and also revealed a new hyperscaler deal worth about $7.5 billion.

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA): The chip manufacturer jumped onto the retail radar amid its earnings results. The company provided a strong forward guidance of $91 billion in revenue for the upcoming quarter. However, the company said that it did not assume any data center compute revenue from China in its outlook.

Rocket Lab USA Inc. (RKLB): The company’s shares were down about 6% in extended trading hours after it announced a $3 billion stock offering that raised dilution concerns.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA): The Chinese e-commerce giant was on the retail radar after it revealed the new Zhenwu M890 chip to rival offerings from Nvidia.

Broader Market Trends

Oil futures were trading higher in the overnight session heading into Thursday. Brent crude futures expiring in July were up about 0.82%, trading at around $105.88 a barrel, while WTI crude futures expiring in June were trading around $99.15 a barrel at the time of writing.

Gold prices slipped to around $4,535.57 an ounce.

Asian markets were all trading higher at the open on Thursday, with the KOSPI, Nikkei 225, and the SSE Composite index climbing up at the time of writing. Australian stocks were also higher at the open.

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