United States stock futures traded mixed on Wednesday night (Thursday AEST), as investors digested a wave of earnings from major technology companies while continuing to monitor elevated oil prices and the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision.
By 10 am AEST (12 am GMT), Dow Jones futures were down 0.3%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.7%.
Alphabet shares surged around 7.1% after the company reported first-quarter revenue of $109.9 billion, exceeding the $106.96 billion expected, while earnings per share (EPS) came in at $5.11 versus $2.63 expected.
Microsoft edged 0.3% higher after posting better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its fiscal third quarter, supported by continued strength in its cloud segment. Revenue from Azure and other cloud services rose 40%.
Amazon shares climbed 2.7% after the company delivered first-quarter EPS of $2.78 on revenue of $181.52 billion, comfortably ahead of market expectations for $1.63 and $177.28 billion in revenue.
In contrast, Meta Platforms fell 7% despite reporting a revenue beat, as investors focused on weaker-than-expected capital expenditure and user growth figures. First-quarter capital expenditure totalled $19.84 billion, below forecasts of $27.57 billion, while user growth also disappointed.
Among other movers, Qualcomm surged 13.5% after CEO Cristiano Amon announced plans to begin shipping data centre chips to a major hyperscale customer within the year. The company also reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.65, topping expectations of $2.56.
Carvana jumped 9.2% after signalling a “sequential increase” in retail unit sales and adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter, pointing to potential record performance.
Ford Motor slipped 1.1% despite raising its 2026 guidance, with the company forecasting adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of between $8.5 billion and $10.5 billion. First-quarter revenue of $43.3 billion also exceeded expectations of $42.66 billion.
The moves followed a mixed regular session on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to record its fifth consecutive daily loss. The S&P 500 edged down 0.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite posted a marginal gain of 0.04%.
Oil prices continued to climb amid heightened geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran. Reports indicated that President Donald Trump has instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran, with further gains following news that the U.S. rejected Tehran’s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The Federal Reserve also remained in focus after holding interest rates steady within a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.
While the decision was widely expected, the 8-4 vote marked the highest level of dissent among policymakers since 1992.
The April meeting is likely to be the last chaired by Jerome Powell before his term concludes next month, with Kevin Warsh, nominated by President Trump, expected to assume leadership of the central bank.
Investors are now looking ahead to a series of key economic releases due on Thursday, including the preliminary reading of first-quarter gross domestic product and the personal consumption expenditures index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation.
Further corporate earnings are also on the agenda, with results expected from Caterpillar, Merck, Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Apple is scheduled to report later in the session, rounding out another critical period for markets as investors assess the outlook for growth, inflation and corporate performance.
