S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq Futures Slip After Rally As Trump-Xi Talks Take Center Stage: NVDA, MU, ONDS, RDW Stocks In Focus

• The president also said that China had agreed to withhold military equipment from Iran, and wants the Strait of Hormuz open again. 
• Dow Jones futures, S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were falling overnight. 
• AI stocks, primarily semiconductor companies, led broader market gains at close on Thursday.

U.S. stock futures slipped in overnight trading heading into Thursday after a record-breaking rally in equities that pushed the Dow above the 50,000 mark for the first time since early February, fueled by artificial intelligence momentum, even as meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping continue in Beijing.

However, Dow Jones futures were 0.29% lower, the S&P 500 futures were down 0.33% and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.50% as of 10.28 p.m ET.  

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) were all edging lower at the time of writing. Meanwhile, retail sentiment on Stocktwits for all three was in the green at the time of writing.

How Did US Markets Fare?

On Thursday, benchmark indexes closed higher, bolstered by strong corporate earnings and a revival of broader AI optimism. The Dow Jones index closed up 0.75%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite notched fresh 52-week highs to close up 0.77% and 0.88%, respectively.

US Market Drivers

AI stocks, primarily semiconductor companies, led broader market gains on Thursday. Cisco posted stellar quarterly results, driving up other related stocks. Meanwhile, a strong debut from Nvidia rival Cerebras also propped up markets, even as Nvidia surged to record highs.

Meanwhile, Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping provided key geopolitical updates, with the President telling Fox News in an exclusive interview that China had agreed to buy American oil.

“They’ve agreed they want to buy oil from the United States, they’re going to go to Texas, we’re going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska,” Trump said on Thursday.

The president also said that China had agreed to withhold military equipment from Iran, and wants the Strait of Hormuz open again. Trump and Xi are set to meet on Friday to conclude their two-day summit, which included discussions of trade negotiations and the war in Iran.

Apart from the summit, markets will be watching out for industrial production and capacity utilization data, which provide updates on domestic manufacturing health, on Friday.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA): Nvidia’s shares gained in the overnight session heading into Friday after hitting record levels at close, following reports that suggested the U.S. had cleared a path for the company to sell its H200 chips to 10 major Chinese firms.

Micron Technology Inc. (MU): Micron was declining about 1.5% overnight, garnering attention amid the broader chip rally. The company also received a price target hike from BofA on Friday — the analyst hiked its price target on Micron to $950 from $500 and kept a Buy rating on the shares.

Ondas Inc. (ONDS): The unmanned systems and private wireless solutions company garnered retail attention amid its beat-and-raise first-quarter results.

Redwire Corp. (RDW): The aerospace and defense technology company attracted attention from investors after its results last week, which revealed a strong backlog. The company is also gaining traction amid the anticipation of SpaceX’s massive IPO.

Broader Market Trends

Oil futures climbed higher in Thursday’s overnight session. Brent crude futures expiring in July were up about 1.25%, trading at around $107.04 a barrel, while WTI crude futures expiring in June were 1.31% higher, at $102.50 a barrel at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, treasury yields on the benchmark 10-year were at 4.514%, while gold declined to trade around $4,618.52 an ounce.

Asian markets were mixed at midday on Friday, with the KOSPI and Nikkei 225 declining at the time of writing, while the SSE Composite index was gaining. Australian stocks were also falling at the time of writing.

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