Stocks appeared set for a varied opening on a bustling earnings Thursday, with chipmaker shares continuing their decline, while UnitedHealth Group’s performance provided a boost to Dow Jones Industrial Average futures. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indicated declines of 0.8% and 0.2%, respectively, whereas Dow futures exhibited an increase of 0.2%. Yesterday, major stock indexes experienced an uptick as investors processed a series of earnings reports, alongside an unexpected decline in wholesale inflation readings. However, memory stocks experienced a decline on Wednesday, and they continued to decrease further before the market opened. U.S.-listed shares of South Korean firm SK Hynix experienced a decline of 6.5% following a 9% drop the previous day.
The Roundhill Memory ETF saw a decrease of more than 5% after a 6% pullback, with components Micron Technology, Sandisk, and Seagate Technology Holdings falling between 2.5% and 6% after significant losses in the prior session. U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 4% despite the world’s largest contract chipmaker reporting better-than-expected results amid strong demand for AI chips. UnitedHealth Group shares, however, jumped 7% premarket after the company lifted its full-year profit outlook following better-than-expected quarterly results. GE Aerospace was among several big-name companies slated to report earnings before the bell, while Netflix was set to do so after markets close today.
After all of the Magnificent Seven mega-cap tech stocks but Tesla ended higher yesterday, the pattern was repeating itself in premarket trading. Google parent Alphabet led the septet with a roughly 2% advance before the bell. Shares of Elon Musk-led SpaceX ticked higher after falling below their IPO price of $135 for the first time yesterday. Oil prices remained relatively stable as traders evaluated developments in the Middle East, notably a report indicating that President Donald Trump was inclined to broaden U.S. military operations in Iran. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, were near flat at $79.60 a barrel, while Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, slipped 0.3% to $84.75 a barrel.
The 10-year Treasury yield, a key determinant of interest rates across various consumer loans such as mortgages, stood at approximately 4.58%, reflecting a decline of two basis points from the previous day’s close. Bitcoin was trading around 64,100, down from overnight highs above 65,000. The U.S. dollar index, which monitors the value of the greenback relative to a selection of foreign currencies, increased by 0.1% to 100.55. Gold futures declined by 0.4%, settling at $4,035 per ounce.