- A record $5.7 trillion “triple witching” options expiry threatens to inject fresh swings into an already fragile market.
- Markets remain on edge as escalating Middle East tensions fuel oil volatility.
- SMCI stock tanks 20% in early pre-market trade on alleged Nvidia chip diversion to China.
U.S. stock futures took a breather early Friday with investors parsing the latest developments in the Middle East. However, fresh Israeli strikes on Iran and risks around the Strait of Hormuz are keeping oil volatility in action.
Traders will also be focusing on a historic options expiration. They are bracing for a staggering $5.7 trillion in notional options to expire today, which is reportedly the largest March expiry in Citigroup data going back to 1996.
As of 4:00 a.m. ET on Friday, Dow futures rose 0.2%, S&P futures gained 0.1%, the Nasdaq futures were flat with a positive bias, and Russell 2000 futures were up 0.3%.
Caution prevails among the traders. Retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, remained ‘extremely bearish, and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, has remained ‘bearish’ amid high trading volume.
Trending Stocks To Watch
Super Micro Computer (SMCI): The stock is on retail radar this morning after U.S. prosecutors charged three individuals, including a co-founder and a board member, in a scheme to smuggle Nvidia (NVDA) chips to China. Both companies have stressed on compliance in their statements.
Nvidia (NVDA) & Amazon (AMZN): Despite the SMCI scandal, Nvidia remains in focus following reports it will sell 1 million chips to Amazon by the end of 2027 as part of a massive cloud infrastructure deal. Amazon also boosted its logistics wing by acquiring the autonomous robotics startup Rivr.
Meta (META): The company reportedly reversed its decision to shut down Horizon Worlds for Quest VR headsets, citing fan feedback.
Tech stocks also remain in the spotlight on reports that the White House is expected to release a national AI regulatory framework in the coming days.
Tesla (TSLA): The EV giant is back in focus as it doubles down on its solar and energy ambitions with a $2.9 billion China-linked expansion, while also nearing a potential rollout of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in Europe.
FedEx (FDX): The stock is garnering retail attention following a Q3 earnings beat and a raised FY26 outlook. Analysts at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan raised price targets to $430–$432.
Investors are shifting focus to rare earth stocks (MP, UAMY, USAR) following a landmark joint action plan between the U.S. and Japan. The two nations announced a $73 billion energy and minerals initiative, including the development of deep-sea rare earth muds near Minamitori Island.
Azitra Inc. (AZTR): The stock is seeing strong pre-market action following the pricing of a $31.4 million private placement financing.
ImmunityBio, Inc. (IBRX): Its cancer therapy Anktiva appeared on Macau’s latest drug list. Also, the founder has flagged early immune activation data from an Anktiva study.
Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Firefly Aerospace (FLY), AppLovin Corp (APP), and Qualcom (QCOM).
On earnings radar, watch out for quarterly reports from Milestone Scientific (MIST), XPeng (XPEV), and Zegna (ZGN) before the bell today.
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