Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Subdued Ahead Of PMI Data: Why INTC, TSLA, NFLX, VST, MOVE Are On Traders' Radar Today

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for SPY and QQQ remained ‘bearish’.

• Wall Street is heading into Friday on pause, despite supportive macro signals. 
• Power and grid-related names are on watch after the U.S. government reportedly requested backup power from data centers as a record-breaking winter storm threatens grid stability.
• On the macro front, traders will track U.S. Services and Manufacturing PMI data before the open, followed by Consumer Sentiment at 10:00 a.m.

U.S. stock futures were subdued early Friday, even as geopolitical tensions cooled and economic data remained supportive.

As of 3:50 a.m. ET on Friday, the S&P 500, Dow, and Russell 2000 futures were flat, while the Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%. 

Meanwhile, the retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 Index, moderated to ‘bearish’ from 'extremely bearish,’ and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq 100 Index, has remained ‘bearish,’ amid high message volumes, signaling continued caution toward tech-heavy exposure.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Intel (INTC): Shares will be in focus today after issuing a soft Q1 2026 outlook.

Tesla (TSLA): Elon Musk announced that Robotaxi rides in Austin are now open to the public without safety monitors. He also said the company plans to raise the price of its $99-per-month Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscription as capabilities improve.

Netflix (NFLX): Co-CEO Greg Peters has reportedly said that the company is on track to win shareholder backing for its Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) offer, dismissing Paramount’s rival bid as failing the ‘sniff test.’

Movano (MOVE): Its merger partner, Corvex, secured long-term deployment of NVIDIA H200 GPUs to support AI-driven battery technology workloads.

Capital One (COF): Announced a massive $5.15 billion acquisition of startup Brex. 

Spotify (SPOT): The stock is on the retail radar after Goldman Sachs upgraded it to ‘Buy’ and the rollout of new AI-powered features. 

Oracle (ORCL): Shares jumped in overnight trading after President Trump confirmed a deal involving a U.S.-China joint venture to keep TikTok operational, with Oracle as a key investor and cloud partner.

Alphabet (GOOGL): The company has failed to convince a federal judge in California to dismiss a consumer antitrust lawsuit accusing it of using restrictive agreements to maintain search dominance. 

Amazon (AMZN): The company is reportedly preparing for another round of corporate layoffs next week.

Sanofi (SNY): The company will move forward with global regulatory submissions for amlitelimab following successful Phase 3 trials in atopic dermatitis.

Watchout for power stocks such as Constellation Energy (CEG), Vistra (VST), and Generac (GNRC). The U.S. government has requested backup power from data centers as a record-breaking winter storm threatens the national grid.

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Novo Nordisk (NVO), Altimmune (ALT), and Ascent Solar Technologies (ASTI).

Other Catalysts To Watch

On the economic front, traders will be monitoring the release of U.S. Services & Manufacturing PMI prints before markets open and Consumer Sentiment data, due at 10:00 am ET. 

And on the earnings radar, investors will be watching for the quarterly reports from Maxeon Solar Technologies (MAXN), BancFirst Corp (BANC), and SLB, among others, later today. 

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