Stock futures pointed lower Thursday after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met and investors digested a warning from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and several earnings reports from big tech companies, with more to come after the bell.
Futures associated with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, the benchmark S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.3%, 0.1% and 0.1% respectively.
Yesterday, all three indexes set new intraday highs shortly after markets opened, but only the Nasdaq finished higher after Powell said a further interest rate cut in December is “not a foregone conclusion, by any means” after the central bank cut its key rate by a quarter point.
After meeting Xi in Busan, South Korea, earlier Thursday, Trump said the United States would reduce tariffs on Chinese goods by 10% in exchange for China taking “very strong action” on chemicals used to produce fentanyl. China also agreed to ease restrictions on rare earth exports and buy “tremendous quantities” of U.S.-produced soybeans, Trump said.
After the bell yesterday, tech giants Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) reported their quarterly results. Alphabet shares are rising 7.5% in premarket trading after surpassing $100 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, but Meta and Microsoft are down 8.5% and 2%, respectively.
Two additional members of the Magnificent Seven, Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), will report results after the markets close today. Apple shares were up nearly 1% and Amazon shares were down 0.5% before the bell rang.
Shares of Nvidia (NVDA), which on Wednesday became the first company to be valued at $5 trillion, fell 0.3% in premarket trading.
Elsewhere, shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) sank 18% after it cut its same-store sales outlook because it said customers are making fewer visits, and Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) shares plunged 24% issuing a weak outlook following weak same-store sales.
Eli Lilly (LLY) shares rose 5% after the maker of popular weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro raised its full-year outlook following better-than-expected third-quarter results. Shares of Align Technology (ALGN) rose 15% after the company reported better-than-expected results, while shares of ServiceNow (NOW) advanced 3% after the enterprise software company’s results beat estimates and its board of directors authorized a 5-for-1 stock split.
The 10-year Treasury yield was little changed at 4.08%, while the U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was nearly steady at 99.24. Bitcoin was trading in a tight range around $110,000. Gold futures were near $4,000 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were down 0.8% to around $60 a barrel.
