S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Mixed Ahead Of Fed Decision, Big Tech Earnings: GOOGL, MSFT, HOOD, SOFI In Focus

Investors await the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and major technology earnings as U.S. stock futures trade mixed and oil prices rise on Middle East tensions.

• Oil prices increased, with Brent futures topping $116 a barrel and WTI futures crossing $102 after the Houthis reported an attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery.
• Alphabet and Microsoft were in focus ahead of their earnings, while SK Hynix surged on record results.
• The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its policy decision on Wednesday and is expected to leave interest rates unchanged.

U.S. equity futures traded mixed early on Wednesday as investors awaited earnings from major technology companies and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later in the day.

As of 5 a.m. ET, S&P 500 futures edged up 0.05%, while Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.3%. Dow futures, meanwhile, slipped 0.2%.

Earlier on Tuesday, the benchmark indices closed higher for a second straight session, led by chipmakers ahead of the Fed’s policy decision. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, while the Nasdaq-100 gained 1.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat, while the small-cap Russell 2000 added 1.2%.

Oil Prices Rise On Middle East Tensions

Oil prices rose early on Wednesday as investors weighed the risk of a prolonged and widening conflict in the Middle East after Tehran-backed Houthis attacked Saudi Arabia’s largest refinery. The Houthis said on Tuesday they had attacked Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery with a ballistic missile, according to a Reuters report.

At the time of writing, Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were up 1.98% to $116.13 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 2.21% to $102.11 a barrel.

The Tech Radar

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL): Shares rose 1.2% in premarket trading on Wednesday after a report said OpenAI was considering buying Google’s tensor processing units (TPUs). The report did not disclose financial terms or other details of the potential deal. Investors were also positioning ahead of Alphabet’s quarterly results, due after the market close. 

SK Hynix (SKHY): Shares surged over 8% in premarket trading after the chipmaker reported record results and announced more than $23 billion in dividends and buybacks. The company said it sold out its DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips through 2029, with shortages expected to persist until 2030. Its Seoul-listed shares rose over 8% on Wednesday, lifting South Korea’s Kospi nearly 6%.

SoFi Technologies (SOFI): The stock gained 1.15% in premarket trading after surging on Tuesday to its biggest one-day gain in 18 months following record third-quarter results. Adjusted net revenue rose 44% year-on-year to a record $1.37 billion, beating Wall Street estimates. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) increased to $0.18 from $0.11 a year earlier, also exceeding analysts’ expectations.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT): Shares were down 0.2% in the early premarket session on Wednesday as investors awaited the software giant’s fiscal first-quarter results. The stock remains close to a record high despite a recent pullback in AI-related shares. The earnings call is also expected to draw questions about Microsoft’s voluntary buyout program, which media reports say could cover about 60,000 employees, or 27% of its 223,000-strong workforce. 

Trending Stocks

Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD): Shares fell 8.4% in premarket trading as investors digested weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings and revenue. The firm reported earnings of $0.51 per share, below Wall Street estimates of $0.55, according to Fiscal.ai, while revenue of $1.42 billion also fell short of expectations of $1.43 billion. 

Visa Inc. (V): The stock fell 1.4% in premarket trading as Visa’s fiscal 2027 growth outlook disappointed investors, overshadowing a fourth-quarter earnings beat. The payments giant expects net revenue to grow at a low-double-digit rate in fiscal 2027, while adjusted earnings per share are projected to rise by a low-double-digit to low-teens percentage.

Boeing Co. (BA): Shares fell 0.09% in premarket trading and were on track for a weekly loss after CEO Robert Kelly Ortberg outlined a path to $10 billion in free cash flow by 2029. The company said stabilizing 737 production was taking longer than expected and that it aimed to reach 47 jets a month in 2027, with cash flow improving over the next three years. Earlier, Boeing shares fell 10% in Tuesday’s regular session. 

Seagate Technology (STX): The stock fell 3% in premarket trading despite the data storage company reporting better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results and issuing a strong outlook. Seagate also raised its quarterly dividend. Seagate’s shares followed a similar pattern to Western Digital (WDC), which also fell after posting upbeat results last week. 

Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) and SELLAS Life Sciences Group Inc. (SLS), among others.

What Else To Watch On Wednesday

The Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting concludes on Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s comments following the decision will be closely watched for clues on the policy outlook.

Investors will also track a fresh batch of earnings. GE Vernova LLC (GEV) and Stellantis N.V. (STLA) are scheduled to report before the opening bell, while Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL), Ford Motor Co. (F), T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) and eBay Inc. (EBAY) are due to report after the market close.

SPY, QQQ, DIA: Retail Sentiment

Retail sentiment toward the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500, improved to ‘neutral’ from ‘bearish’ over the past 24 hours. Sentiment toward the  Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq 100, also improved to ‘bearish’ from ‘extremely bearish’ during the same period. Meanwhile, sentiment toward the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) remained bearish.

Also read: Tesla-SpaceX Merger Needs No Premium, Investor Says — But Floats $500 To Sway Angry Holders Missing Bigger Payoff

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