Nasdaq futures declined on Wednesday, following a significant downturn in major equity indexes the previous day, marking their most substantial drop in three months, while safe-haven gold reached a new all-time high. Futures for the Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and S&P 500 indicated declines of 0.2%, 0.1%, and less than 0.1%, respectively, in recent trading sessions. Yesterday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq, benchmark S&P 500, and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced declines of 2.4%, 2.1%, and 1.8%, marking their most significant downturn since October 10. The Dow fell by 870 points following President Donald Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on eight NATO allies who opposed his proposed sale of Greenland to the U.S.
On Wednesday, Trump is anticipated to address the issue of housing affordability at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he indicated he would also engage with “various parties” regarding Greenland. Gold futures, often regarded as a safe haven, reached a new all-time high of nearly $4,900 an ounce early Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences interest rates on various consumer loans including mortgages, fell slightly to below 4.29% after closing at 4.30% on Tuesday, marking its highest closing level since August 21. Bitcoin was trading at approximately 89,200, reflecting a modest decline for the day.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the value of the greenback relative to a selection of global currencies, remained relatively stable at 98.68. West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, experienced a decline of 0.4%, settling at approximately $60.15 per barrel. In premarket trading, the performance of major technology stocks exhibited a mixed trend following the significant declines observed on Tuesday.
The Magnificent Seven firms—in order of market capitalization, Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Tesla—all closed down between 1.2% and 4.3% yesterday, while chipmaker Broadcom was nearly 5.5% lower. In the aftermath of earnings announcements, Netflix shares experienced a decline of 7% prior to market opening, while Johnson & Johnson saw a decrease of 1%, and United Airlines recorded an increase of 3%.