US stock futures stalled on Thursday ahead of a rush of earnings highlighted by Amazon (AMZN), as investors assessed the season so far and eyed President Donald Trump’s fast-moving policy overhaul.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) and the S&P 500 futures (ES=F) both hovered just above the flat line. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) nudged 0.1% lower, on the heels of two winning days in a row for the major gauges.
The tariff jitters that shook stocks earlier in the week may have eased, but markets are eyeing incoming earnings for any company warnings. At the same time, tech and chip-related results are being scrutinized for signals about the strength of AI demand.
Investors are keenly awaiting Amazon’s quarterly report due after the bell, following Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) cloud sales flop. The report will further test the view that Big Tech plans to keep spending big in AI after disappointing results late Wednesday from chip companies Arm (ARM) and Qualcomm (QCOM).
Adding to gloom, Ford (F) shares slid despite a quarterly earnings beat after it put out muted full-year guidance, pointing to tariffs as a headwind. Its CEO warned of that billions of dollars in auto industry profits could be wiped out if 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada are sustained.
Eli Lilly (LLY), Peloton (PTON), and ConocoPhillips (COP) were also on the earnings calendar Thursday.
Meanwhile, investors are parsing Treasure Secretary Scott Bessent’s comment on Wednesday that Trump wants to focus on lower Treasury yields as a way to ease borrowing costs, rather than calling for the Federal Reserve to lower rates. The benchmark 10-year yield (^TNX) traded around its lowest levels since December, at about 4.43%.
But Trump is still posing a quandary for the Fed, in that his tariffs could dial up inflation — though policymakers are taking a “wait and see” approach before moving on policy. An update on jobless claims due later will give insight into the labor market, key to Fed decision making and seen as at risk from a rise in inflation.
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