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A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 24, 2025.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
S&P 500 futures inched higher Wednesday night as investors digested Nvidia's latest results.
Futures tied to the broad market index and Nasdaq 100 futures each added about 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 75 points, or nearly 0.2%.
Nvidia shares flickered below the flatline after the chip giant exceeded fourth-quarter estimates on the top and bottom lines. The company issued strong guidance, reflecting continued demand driven by the artificial intelligence race. Salesforce slid on disappointing fourth-quarter revenue and light guidance.
On Wednesday, stocks came off the session's highs as investors grew concerned about President Donald Trump's trade policies. At his first cabinet meeting, he said that duties against Canada and Mexico would take effect and that his trade war will include a 25% tariff on goods from the European Union.
The S&P 500 eked out just a 0.01% gain on Wednesday, ending its four-day streak of losses. The 30-stock Dow dropped 188 points, or about 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added nearly 0.3%.
"Caution is warranted. The remarkable strength of equities in recent months suggests that any downside should be approached with care," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex. "For the bulls, a corrective move lower wouldn't be unwelcome, as it could present more attractive entry opportunities in the future. But today, everything else may well play second fiddle to Nvidia's earnings result."
Indeed, a flurry of recent economic reports — including a softer-than-expected consumer confidence reading, disappointing retail sales numbers and a weak consumer sentiment reading — have rattled stocks and raised worries about the health of the U.S. economy.
Traders will have an eye on Thursday's weekly jobless claims, but they're looking ahead to Friday's personal consumption expenditures price index — the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.
On the quarterly earnings front, Warner Bros. Discovery and Dell Technologies are slated to report Thursday.
Roughly half of S&P 500 names are showing upward momentum as investors remain cautious
Just above half of the S&P 500's stocks are showing a bullish signal, according to Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity Investments director of global macro.
"Everyone is just waiting, it seems. You don't want to sell; in case the rollercoaster arrives safely. But who is left to buy following the strong inflows since the election?," Timmer wrote in a Wednesday post on X. "The equal-weighted S&P 500 index remains below its highs set on November 29th, and only 53% of stocks are above their 50-day moving average. We are in a 'buy the rumor, wait for the news' mode."
A stock's 50-day moving average is determined by adding up the closing prices of a stock over 50 days and then dividing the result by 50. Stocks trending above their 50-day moving average are generally considered to be on an uptrend.
The S&P 500 is having a tough February, and has added just 1.3% so far this year as market hysteria tied to artificial intelligence and the election has weakened.
— Pia Singh
Nvidia, Salesforce, eBay moving in after-hours trading
Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading:
- Snowflake — Shares of Snowflake popped more than 9% on the back of the company's better-than-expected fourth-quarter report. The data cloud analytics company reported adjusted earnings of 30 cents per share on revenue of $987 million, while analysts surveyed by LSEG expected earnings of 17 cents per share on revenue of $956 million.
- Nvidia — The chipmaker's shares edged about 0.6% higher on a strong earnings report. Nvidia exceeded fourth-quarter estimates on the top and bottom lines and said it sees first-quarter revenue coming out higher than the Street's expectations. Its revenue in the latest quarter rose 78%, and full fiscal-year revenue for Nvidia rose 114% to $130.5 billion, reflecting continued strong demand.
- Salesforce — Shares of the enterprise software company inched higher by less than 1% on mixed fourth-quarter results. Salesforce reported adjusted earnings of $2.78 per share, beating analysts' expectations of $2.61 per share. Its revenue of $9.99 billion came out under analysts' forecast of $10.04 billion, per LSEG, dragging shares.
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
English (US)