US Stock Futures Flat After S&P500, Dow End At Record Highs On Strong Earnings, Easing Geopolitical Concerns — PLTR, AZN, CMG, MRNA In Focus

• The S&P 500 ended 1.8% higher, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 3.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.7%.
• Palantir stock soared nearly 30% on strong quarterly earnings and outlook.
• Chipotle Mexican stock dropped after being associated with a Salmonella outbreak.

U.S. stock indices ended higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Dow hitting record highs as investors cheered strong earnings from Palantir, while an easing geopolitical landscape pulled oil prices lower. 

The S&P 500 ended 1.8% higher, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 3.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.7% higher. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalizations, jumped 2%.

Dow futures were up 90 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures added 0.1%. Nasdaq-100 futures were down 0.2%. 

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) added 1.9%, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ended Tuesday 3.2% higher, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) rose 1.7%.

Meanwhile, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 4.9%, amid gains in Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The broader Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) added 4.2%, tracking gains in Apple (AAPL), SpaceX (SPCX) and Tesla (TSLA) stock. 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for SPY and QQQ was ‘bearish’ and ‘neutral’ for the DIA, with ‘high’ message volumes.

US Market Drivers

U.S. and Iranian officials were sounding hopeful for an agreement to stop the war and open the Strait of Hormuz, as per Qatar, supporting positive investor sentiment. President Donald Trump discussed efforts to de-escalate U.S.-Iran tensions with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, according to the Gulf state’s government. Furthermore, Iran is considering allowing European nations to remove mines from Hormuz, said diplomats familiar with the matter.

“Markets are reacting to the possibility that a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz could help normalize global oil supplies and reduce near-term energy price pressures,” Tony Miano at Wells Fargo Investment Institute told Bloomberg. “Lower oil prices can ease inflation concerns.”

The developments pushed oil prices lower, with the West Texas Intermediate futures settling down 5.69% to $75.77 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, declined 5.26% to $79.36 a barrel. 

Over to earnings, Palantir’s robust revenue outlook, which surpassed estimates by a wide margin, pushed its stock price up close to 30% on Tuesday. CEO Alex Karp noted that AI demand was ‘otherworldly,’ which in turn pushed chip stocks like Micron Tech (MU) and Marvell Technology (MRVL) soaring. 

While futures were flattish at the time of writing, investors were digesting after-hours earnings from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which somewhat disappointed investors, coupled with quarterly updates from SpaceX (SPCX).  

Trending Stocks To Watch 

Palantir (PLTR): Palantir Technologies Inc. shares rallied 28% on Tuesday, erasing the entirety of year-to-date paper profits for short sellers, inflicting billions of dollars in mark-to-market losses on investors positioning against the defense software specialist. 

AstraZeneca (AZN): AstraZeneca’s merger talks with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) reportedly remain active, though it would require the former to make hard commitments on investments within the U.S., Semafor reported on Tuesday. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): The company reportedly pulled jalapeños from several of its locations across Minnesota after state health authorities linked the produce to a local salmonella outbreak. 

Anthropic: Investment giant Blackstone Inc. (BX) has held early talks with institutional investors to explore interest in a second mega private debt package totaling at least $36 billion to finance AI startup Anthropic PBC’s procurement of Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google processing chips. 

Moderna (MRNA): The company kicked off a Phase 1 clinical trial of its experimental vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus, ahead of a closely watched regulatory decision on its influenza vaccine expected this week. 

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