U.S. Futures Drop in Pre-Market Trading as Tech Stocks Plunge After Meta Issues Gloomy Forecast

U.S. index futures fell in pre-market trading on Thursday, particularly technology stocks, which saw a significant depreciation after Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) announced disheartening forecasts.

At 6:44 AM, the Dow Jones DOWI:DJI) futures were down 257 points, or 0.66%. The S&P 500 futures fell by 0.64%, and the Nasdaq-100 futures lost 0.95%. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was at 4.644%.

In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose 0.14%, to $82.93 per barrel. Brent crude for June increased by 0.15%, near $88.14 per barrel. Iron ore traded on the Dalian exchange rose 1.03%, to $121.36 per metric ton.

On Thursday’s economic calendar, the preliminary reading of the first-quarter GDP published by the Commerce Department is scheduled for 8:30 AM. Simultaneously, the Department of Labor will also release unemployment insurance claims for the week ending last Saturday. Later, at 10:00 AM, the Commerce Department will present March’s pending home sales data.

European markets predominantly showed negative performance, influenced by investors’ reactions to recent corporate results. Additionally, important economic indicators are scheduled, including a survey on consumer sentiment in Germany and business climate data in France for April.

Asian markets showed mixed behavior on Thursday, reflecting a combination of profit-taking after recent gains and a cautious environment in anticipation of the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) monetary policy announcement. The Japanese index Nikkei fell significantly by 2.16%, closing at 37,628.48 points in Tokyo. Investors were on edge awaiting the BoJ’s interest rate decision, scheduled to be announced between Thursday and Friday. This decision is particularly observed after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates last month for the first time in 17 years, although it indicated a cautious approach to future changes in monetary policy. Since then, the yen has reached its lowest quotes in over three decades against the dollar.

Meanwhile, other indexes in the region showed modest variations. The Shanghai SE in China rose slightly by 0.27%, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 0.48%. On the other hand, the Kospi in South Korea fell 1.76%, and the ASX 200 in Australia had a slight decline of 0.01%.

U.S. stocks had a tepid performance on Wednesday, contrasting with the robust gains from earlier in the week. After a promising start, the major indexes fluctuated around stability, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreating 42.77 points to 38,460.92, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.08 points to 5,071.63 and the Nasdaq rose 16.11 points to 15,712.75. Notable was Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), which rose 12.1% after Elon Musk announced the production of a new economical model for 2025. Other companies like Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) and Visa (NYSE:V) also stood out with results above expectations.

For quarterly results, reports are scheduled to be presented before the market opens from American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL), Altria (NYSE:MO), Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Mobileye (NASDAQ:MBLY), OSI Systems (NASDAQ:OSIS), among others.

After the close, results from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Snap Inc. (NYSE:SNAP), Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU), Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC), T-Mobile US (NASDAQ:TMUS), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD), Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM), Dexcom (NASDAQ:DXCM), and more are awaited.