Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on April 10, 2024 in New York City. Stocks fell across the board, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping more than 400 points as new inflation data released that day showed a continued rise.
Spencer Pratt | Getty Images
U.S. stock futures hovered around the flatline Thursday night as traders awaited corporate earnings reports from major U.S. banks.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 48 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures are almost unchanged.
The subdued move came after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rallied sharply as tech stocks led a comeback from Wednesday’s inflation-fueled decline. On Thursday, the Nasdaq rose 1.68% to close at a record high, while the S&P 500 rose 0.74%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 30 stocks fell 0.01%, the fourth consecutive day of decline.
Apple was one of the names of the Magnificent Seven assembled on Thursday. The iPhone maker soared 4.3% after Bloomberg News reported that the iPhone maker plans to overhaul its Mac products with new chips focused on artificial intelligence. Apple had its best day since May 2023.
AI favorite Nvidia also soared 4.1%, while Amazon soared to a record high and closed up 1.7%.
Going forward, artificial intelligence tailwinds will be key to determining which stocks drive the current bull market, said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.
“The divergence between the Nasdaq and the Dow today is pretty clear… It’s still a polarized market and things are being driven by AI,” he told CNBC. “That’s what you want going forward, and that’s what you have to do to be sustainable.”
Thursday’s tech-heavy rally narrowed the S&P 500’s weekly decline, now down 0.1% for the period. The Nasdaq is on pace to end the week up 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has underperformed, down 1.1% since the start of the week.
The first quarter earnings season begins in earnest on Friday, with many major U.S. financial institutions scheduled to report results before the bell. These include JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, BlackRock, and State Street.
