U.S. stock futures rose on Thursday, as the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and the Dow Jones indices advanced, following Wednesday’s lower close.
Investors are closely watching the upcoming May PPI release, along with the weekly jobless claims, before the opening bell.
Middle East tensions have escalated significantly as the U.S. and Iran traded direct military strikes, following warnings from President Donald Trump that Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled peace talks.
The renewed hostilities have severely disrupted regional stability, prompting neighboring countries like Kuwait to temporarily close their airspace amid incoming Iranian attacks.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.53%, and the two-year bond was at 4.12%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 98.3% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged during June’s meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.68% |
| S&P 500 | 0.79% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 1.22% |
| Russell 2000 | 1.41% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were higher in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 0.81% at $731.39, while the QQQ advanced by 1.38% to $703.29.
Sectors that gained and lost on Wednesday saw most S&P 500 industries close on a negative note, with industrials, materials, and information technology stocks recording the biggest losses. However, consumer staples and energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session higher.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Dow Jones | -1.87% | 49,918.78 |
| S&P 500 | -1.62% | 7,266.99 |
| Nasdaq Composite | -1.98% | 25,169.50 |
| Russell 2000 | -1.10% | 2,835.46 |
BlackRock maintains an overweight stance on U.S. equities, supported by “contained damage to global growth from the Mideast conflict and strong earnings expectations – particularly in tech.”
A primary driver of this optimism is the artificial intelligence boom, which BlackRock believes is “lifting U.S. corporate earnings, underpinning our U.S. equity overweight.” The firm specifically favors “AI beneficiaries,” such as infrastructure and semiconductor equipment.
Conversely, BlackRock expects persistent macro challenges for the broader economy. It is closely monitoring the transition to new Federal Reserve leadership, noting that they are “closely watching how new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will address this mix of strong jobs growth, an uptick in job vacancies, and mounting wage pressure.”
Furthermore, sticky price pressures remain a structural concern, with BlackRock warning that “macro anchors investors have relied upon – like stable inflation expectations – are lost.”
Due to this persistent inflation and rising rates, they are underweight long U.S. Treasuries, advising investors to build portfolios around exposures rather than traditional asset class labels.
Here's what investors will be keeping an eye on Thursday.
Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 1.03% to hover around $89.10 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar rose 0.36% to hover around $4,086.20 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $5,595.46 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.10% higher at the 100.0500 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 2.68% higher at $62,868.61 per coin, as per the last 24 hours.
Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, as Australia's ASX 200 and India’s Nifty 50 indices rose, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Japan's Nikkei 225, South Korea's Kospi, and China’s CSI 300 indices declined. European markets were mostly higher in early trade.
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