Nasdaq, S&P 500 Futures Tread Water As PPI Data, Tariff Ruling Loom: Why TSLA, NVDA, BAC, AMZN, NFLX Are On Traders' Radar Today

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits turned bearish on SPY, even as optimism around QQQ held firm.

• Investors await fresh inflation data and a busy slate of bank earnings today.
• A possible Supreme Court ruling on Trump tariffs adds another layer of uncertainty.
• Precious metals continued their rally, with gold, copper, and silver hitting fresh record highs. 

U.S. stock futures were edging lower early Wednesday as the markets digested the latest inflation data and JPMorgan kicking off the quarterly earnings season. Traders look forward to a flurry of bank earnings from Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C) today. And on the economic front, investors are awaiting the Producer Price Index (PPI) report this morning.

The other big factor at play today will be a likely ruling from the Supreme Court at 10 am ET on the legality of the Trump administration's global tariffs.

As of 3:10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%, the Dow futures were down 0.25%, while the Russell 2000 futures traded flat.

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

Precious metals continue to rally to record highs. Apart from gold and copper, spot silver surged over 2% in the premarket to a record high of $89.12/oz. Copper, too, is on the surge.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Nvidia (NVDA): The Trump administration issued revised criteria to allow H200 chip sales to China on a case-by-case basis. But new reports suggest that despite the U.S.  easing curbs, Chinese customs and officials have reportedly instructed domestic tech firms to avoid purchasing Nvidia H200 chips unless absolutely necessary.

Tesla (TSLA): CEO Elon Musk announced that after Feb 14, Full Self-Driving will no longer be available for one-time purchase, moving exclusively to a monthly model.

Amazon (AMZN): Reports suggest that the company is negotiating cost reductions with vendors to ‘reverse concessions’ made during the height of the tariff implementation.

Netflix (NFLX): The stock is garnering retail attention on Stocktwits amid speculation that it is considering making its $83 billion offer for Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming assets all-cash.

Watch out for homebuilding stocks as the administration is pressuring homebuilders to curb stock buybacks and divert capital toward lowering housing costs ahead of the midterm cycle.

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Intel Corp (INTC), Alibaba Group Holdings (BABA), Barrick Gold (B), Delta Air Lines (DAL), and Adobe (ADBE).

Other Catalysts To Watch

On the economic front, investors are looking ahead to the release of PPI data and retail sales before the opening bell, followed by existing home sales data for December at 10 am. 

On the earnings radar, investors will also be watching for the quarterly report from Compass Diversified (CODI), Calavo Growers (CVGW), H.B. Fuller (FUL), Home BancShares (HOMB), and RF Industries (RFIL) in after-market hours.

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