Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Dip As Markets Brace For Inflation Data, More Hormuz Tensions: SNOW, DELL, ONDS, NBIS, SIDU Are In Focus

• Investors await the crucial PCE report today, along with GDP revisions, and weekly jobless claims for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next move. 
• All eyes are on renewed geopolitical tensions after fresh U.S. military strikes in Iran. 
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reportedly targeted a U.S. airbase following the strikes. Crude oil prices inched 3% higher in trade.

U.S. stock futures dipped slightly early Thursday as geopolitical developments in the Middle East and crucial inflation data due later in the day kept markets on edge. 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has reportedly retaliated after U.S. forces launched defensive airstrikes against an Iranian drone site near the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, sending crude oil prices higher by 3%. Shares of Battalion Oil Corp. (BATL), Trio Petroleum Corp. (TPET), and Indonesia Energy Corp Ltd. (INDO) rose between 9% to 15% in early premarket trading. 

Investors will also be tracking April’s Core PCE Price Index: the first major inflation test under new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. 

As of 4:00 a.m. ET on Thursday: S&P 500 and Dow futures were 0.1% lower, and Nasdaq and Russell 2000 futures were down 0.3%.

Retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, remained in ‘bullish’ territory, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has moderated to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ a day ago. 

Trending Stocks To Watch

Snowflake (SNOW) stock surged another 35% in premarket trade on Thursday following a strong Q1 beat, announcing the acquisition of AI agent platform Natoma, and securing a massive $6 billion multi-year infrastructure commitment with Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

Salesforce (CRM): Dipped 2% in premarket trade after issuing soft Q2 guidance, though CEO Marc Benioff defended the software giant, noting its autonomous "Agentforce" AI platform has already crossed a $1 billion annual revenue run-rate.

Meanwhile, Marvell (MRVL) shares fell 2% in early premarket trade even as it posted strong quarterly earnings and retail sentiment turned more bullish on Stocktwits. 

Dell Technologies (DELL) stock rose 5% in early premarket trade after it won a huge Pentagon software agreement to consolidate Microsoft 365 and cloud licensing across the military. Microsoft (MSFT) shares were marginally higher in trade. 

Meta Platforms (META): CEO Mark Zuckerberg also reportedly said that Meta may enter the commercial cloud market if it has excess data center capacity.

Amazon (AMZN): Cathie Wood's ARK Investment purchased 24,200 shares of the e-commerce and cloud leader on Wednesday. 

Nebius Group (NBIS): Surged another 11% in premarket trade after former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund, Situational Awareness LP, disclosed a 5.6% beneficial ownership stake.

Ondas Holdings (ONDS): The defense and autonomous robotics company gained 8% in early premarket trade ahead of its 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

XPeng (XPEV) And Li Auto (LI): On the retail radar ahead of earnings report today. Investors will be watching for commentary on Chinese EV demand trends. Meanwhile, U.S.-listed shares of Nio Inc (NIO) slipped 2% in premarket trade after the company priced its new ES9 SUV below expectations, helping generate more than 50,000 pre-orders ahead of launch. 

Sidus Space (SIDU) stock fell 15% in early premarket trade. On Wednesday night, it announced a $100 million registered direct offering of Class A common stock (and pre-funded warrants) at $5.08 per share.

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Unusual Machines (UMAC), T1E Energy (TE), and Corsair Gaming (CRSR).

Other Catalysts To Watch

On the economic front, in addition to the inflation print, investors are tracking the release of preliminary Q1 GDP revisions, initial jobless claims, and durable goods orders this morning.

On earnings radar, watch out for quarterly reports from Best Buy (BBY), Kohl's (KSS), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Burlington Stores (BURL), XPeng (XPEV), and Li Auto (LI), among others, before the bell today. Costco (COST), Dell Technologies (DELL), UiPath (PATH), SentinelOne (S), and Okta (OKTA) are among others reporting after market close today.  

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