Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Dip As Investors Brace For Jobs Data, Tariff Ruling: Why NVDA, MSFT, AAPL, APLD, NIO Are On Traders' Radar Today

Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and select biotech names dominated early market buzz.

• Investors turned cautious ahead of key U.S. jobs data and a potential court ruling on President Donald Trump’s global tariffs expected Friday. 
• Retail traders, however, stayed bullish on SPY and QQQ on Stocktwits.

U.S. stock futures were lower early Thursday, following a pullback in major indexes. President Donald Trump’s policy comments triggered a late selloff, with defense, financial, and energy stocks under pressure.

Investors are also cautious ahead of the big jobs data and the potential US court ruling on Trump’s global tariffs due on Friday. 

As of 3:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.3%, S&P 500 futures and Dow futures were down 0.2%, while Russell 2000 futures fell 0.4%.

On Stocktwits, however, retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, remained ‘bullish’. While sentiment toward the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index, has moved back to ‘bullish’ from ‘extremely bullish’ a day ago, amid high message volumes.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Nvidia (NVDA): The Jensen Huang-led chipmaker is reportedly requiring full upfront payment, with no cancellation rights, for H200 chips from Chinese clients to hedge against regulatory export uncertainty.

Microsoft (MSFT): The company’s communications chief took to social media to blast rumors of fresh mass layoffs as "100% made up," attempting to steady the stock ahead of the market open.

Apple (AAPL): Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) surpassed Apple in market cap for the first time since 2019, closing at $3.888 trillion on Wednesday. It has also switched its banking partner from Goldman Sachs to JPMorgan, the new issuer of the Apple Card. 

Nio (NIO): The EV maker announced aggressive 2026 expansion plans for Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand, focusing on right-hand-drive markets to bypass Western tariffs.

Applied Digital (APLD) saw a high volume of trading following its massive revenue growth report.

Ventyx Biosciences (VTYX): Clear Street analyst downgraded the stock to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ with a price target of $14, up from $11, after Eli Lilly (LLY) agreed to acquire Ventyx for $1.2B. Also, LifeSci Capital downgraded it to ‘Market Perform’ from ‘Outperform’ with a $14 price target. 

Alumis (ALMS) remains on retail radar following a massive ‘follow-on’ financing move following its recent clinical success. Alumis priced an upsized public offering of 17.65 million shares at $17 per share, aiming to raise $300 million.

Elevai Labs (ELAB) popped 8%, and Omeros (OMER) rose 5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, with Omeros gaining steam following a positive FDA conference call on its drug Yartemlea.

U.S. defence stocks will be in focus, driven by Trump’s comments to bump up the military budget.

Other noteworthy tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing were One Stop Systems (OSS), Paramount Skydance (PSKY), IREN Limited (IREN), Momentus (MNTS), and Regencell Bioscience (RGC).

Other Catalysts To Watch

On the economic front, investors are looking ahead to the release of Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m. ET), which is a crucial indicator ahead of Friday’s big employment report. Traders will also be monitoring the U.S. Trade Deficit & Productivity data (8:30 a.m. ET) and Consumer Credit data (3 p.m. ET) later today. 

And noteworthy names on the earnings calendar today include Tilray Brands (TLRY), TD Synnex (SNX), Commercial Metals Company (CMC), and Neogen Corporation (NEOG), among others. 

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