Dow, S&P 500 Futures Slip As AI Spending Jitters Hit Tech: Why MSTR, HOOD, AVGO, SNAP, IREN Are In Focus

An analyst noted that February has historically been a difficult month for equities.

• U.S. stock futures were mixed, following another weak session for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, while the Dow ended higher.
• Alphabet flagged higher AI spending, and Anthropic's new AI tools drew attention.
• Traders focused on jobless claims and Fed remarks among the catalysts for the day.

U.S. stock futures were mixed early Thursday after a renewed selloff in software stocks pushed the S&P 500 to a second straight day of losses, while Alphabet’s outsized AI spending plans added to volatility across technology shares.

As of 1:00 a.m.ET, E-mini S&P 500 futures were down 0.06%, E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures were up 0.05%, and E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were lower by 0.2%.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was ‘bearish’ amid ‘high’ message volume, while sentiment toward the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was ‘bullish’ amid ‘high’ message volume, and sentiment toward the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) was ‘bullish’ amid ‘high’ message volume.

Market Drivers

In the previous session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.5%.

Earnings from Alphabet dragged sentiment after the company beat fourth-quarter (Q4) consensus and crossed $400 billion in annual revenue, but outlined sharply higher long-term capital spending tied to AI.

U.S. stocks were also weighed down following the rollout of a new legal-focused tool from Anthropic’s Claude model, which underscored the push of large language models deeper into enterprise application markets.

Macro signals stayed in focus. The U.S. dollar held near a two-week high, with policy decisions from the European Central Bank and Bank of England due later in the day. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said she is more concerned about stalled progress on inflation than about a weakening labor market, signaling limited appetite for near-term rate cuts.

Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, said on X that the current market stress is not “the end of the world,” but noted that sentiment across several surveys has been near highs after a nine-month winning streak. He also pointed to staples leading the market, a breakdown in the discretionary-versus-staples ratio, and February’s reputation as a historically difficult month for equities.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Strategy (MSTR): Shares slipped nearly 1% in extended trading after Michael Burry warned that a further drop in Bitcoin could trigger a “death spiral” for companies holding large crypto balances, with the stock under pressure ahead of Q4 earnings.

Robinhood (HOOD): Shares fell 0.3% after hours as weakness in Bitcoin dragged crypto-linked equities lower.

Broadcom (AVGO): Shares gained over 1% after-hours as Alphabet said it would double capital spending to about $180 billion, boosting demand expectations for AI infrastructure suppliers.

Snap (SNAP): Shares rose more than 2% in extended trading after falling over 3% in the prior session to a 52-week low amid broader tech weakness.

Iris Energy (IREN): Shares added nearly 1% after hours as investors looked ahead to second-quarter earnings.

Broader Markets

In broader markets, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note eased slightly to around 4.26%, while the U.S. dollar index was up about 0.2% near 96.7.

Oil prices fell, with the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude down about 1.4% near $64.2 a barrel, and Brent crude dropped by roughly 1.4% around $68.5.

Asian equities declined broadly. The MSCI Asia Pacific ex Japan Index fell 1.7%, South Korea’s KOSPI slid 3.6%, Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted Index dropped 1.1%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.7%.

Among the catalysts for the day are the release of initial jobless claims, delayed due to the government shutdown, and remarks from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic later in the session.

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