Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Rise On Iran Deadline Delay Relief: Why NVDA, META, TSLA, RCKT, CCL Are Keeping Traders Engaged Today

• President Trump extended the deadline for potential strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, easing immediate geopolitical fears.
• After Thursday’s selloff, watch whether Meta and Alphabet attempt a bounce or extend losses amid the ongoing legal overhang.
• Nvidia’s developer backlash and broader AI narrative shifts, alongside continued buying by ARK in Tempus AI, could drive divergence within AI names.

U.S. stock futures pushed higher early Friday after President Trump extended the deadline for potential strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure to April 6, providing a 10-day window for ongoing peace negotiations. However, reports suggest that the U.S. may send additional troops, while uncertainty remains around Iran negotiations.

As of 4:00 a.m. ET on Friday, Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000 futures rose 0.3%.

Despite the green start, retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has been languishing at ‘extremely bearish’ amid high trading volume. 

Trending Stocks To Watch

Nvidia (NVDA): The AI bellwether remains in the spotlight following comments that quantum computing will not substitute for GPUs in the near term. It is also facing fresh backlash as indie game developers call for a boycott of its DLSS 5 tech, arguing AI-driven graphics tools threaten creative control and could “commoditize” game design.

Microsoft (MSFT): Reports suggest a hiring freeze across the company's major Cloud and Sales divisions.

Meta Inc (META) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL): Shares held steady in early trade after a significant drop on Thursday, driven by legal setbacks.  

Tesla (TSLA): On track for its worst quarter in a year as high financing costs decouple the stock from rising gas prices; all eyes are on the April 2 delivery report.

Novartis (NVS): The Swiss drugmaker is buying a U.S.-based biotech company, Excellergy, in a deal worth up to $2 billion, as it pushes deeper into food allergy and broader immunology.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (RCKT) and Novo Nordisk (NVO): These two pharmaceutical stocks are on the retail radar following FDA approvals: a first-of-its-kind gene therapy for treatment of severe Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency Type I (RCKT) and a once-weekly basal insulin for adults with type 2 diabetes (NVO).

Brown-Forman (BF.B): The stock rose 2% in early pre-market trade after it confirmed merger discussions with Pernod Ricard. JPMorgan has upgraded it to ‘Neutral.’

American Airlines (AAL): The airline is reporting talks with SpaceX Starlink and Amazon to overhaul in-flight Wi-Fi and potentially bring back seatback screens.

Tempus AI (TEM):  Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment is doubling down with a 61,000-share buy on Thursday. This comes even as the stock languishes at one-year lows.

Meanwhile, Anthropic secured a preliminary injunction against a federal ban on its Claude AI models. And in the latest developments around the SpaceX IPO, Elon Musk is reportedly planning a record-breaking retail allocation of up to 30%.

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included fubo TV Inc (FUBO), Oklo Inc (OKLO), Kraken Robotics (KRNKF) and Unity Software Inc (U). 

On earnings radar, watch out for quarterly reports from Carnival (CCL), Legence (LGN), Milestone Scientific (MLSS), and the metals company (TMC), among others, today. 

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