United States stock futures traded higher on Thursday evening (Friday AEST), as investors absorbed a strong round of corporate earnings and looked ahead to next week’s key Federal Reserve meeting.
The pause came after both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at fresh record highs for a second straight session.
As of 8:55 am AEST (10:55 pm GMT), Dow futures and S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.1%.
In after-hours trading, Intel fell 4.3% after reporting second-quarter losses of $0.10 per share, below expected earnings of $0.01 per share. Revenue came in at $12.86 billion, beating the $11.97 billion forecast.
Deckers climbed 12.1% after the shoe company posted fiscal first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $0.93 on $964.5 million in revenue. That beat the expected EPS of $0.68 and revenue of $900.4 million, driven by strong demand for its Hoka and Ugg brands.
Verisign dropped 0.6% despite posting Q2 EPS of $2.21, up from $2.01 a year earlier and in line with analyst expectations.
Newmont rose 4.3% after the mining firm reported adjusted Q2 earnings of $1.43 per share on $5.32 billion in revenue, comfortably beating estimates of $1.16 and $4.85 billion, respectively.
Boston Beer surged 7% after reporting second-quarter earnings of $5.45 per share, crushing the $3.86 estimate.
Thursday’s regular session saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq score both intraday and closing record highs. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, all three major benchmarks remain on track to post solid weekly gains.
The S&P 500 is up 1.1% week to date, with the Dow and Nasdaq each advancing around 0.8%.
A robust earnings season has underpinned the move higher, with better-than-expected reports from companies like Alphabet adding momentum.
Markets also welcomed signs of progress on the trade front. Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump unveiled what he called a “massive” trade deal with Japan that includes 15% “reciprocal” tariffs.
He also announced that the U.S. and Indonesia had agreed on a framework for a future trade pact.
Attention is also shifting to next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting, where investors will be looking for signs of a potential rate cut.
President Trump, who has repeatedly urged the Fed to ease policy, visited the central bank’s headquarters on Thursday after market hours - marking the first such visit by a sitting president in nearly two decades.
The visit was not without tension. Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell reportedly clashed over the costs of renovation at the Fed’s offices, with Powell publicly refuting a figure cited by Trump. However, after the tour, Trump struck a more conciliatory tone.
“To do so is a big move, and I just don’t think it’s necessary,” Trump said, indicating he does not plan to remove Powell from his position - a threat that had unnerved markets in the past.
