S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Futures Rise As AI-Driven Tech Rally Overpowers ‘Defensive’ Iran Strikes: ONDS, NBIS, RCAT, SNOW In Focus

• On Wednesday, U.S. benchmark indexes closed higher, with the Dow Jones index jumping to a record high.

• At the time of writing, the Dow futures, the S&P 500 futures and the Nasdaq 100 futures were all trading higher.

• Oil futures were also headed higher overnight, but were still trading below $100 a barrel.

U.S. stock futures edged higher in overnight trading ahead of Thursday, buoyed by gains in the technology sector as markets largely disregarded fresh reports of U.S. military strikes on Iran.

Meanwhile, investors are also eyeing the April personal consumption expenditures price index release, due later on Thursday.

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The Dow futures climbed 0.09%, the S&P 500 futures were 0.08% higher, and the Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.02% as of 9.41 p.m ET.

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) all traded in the green at the time of writing, with retail sentiment in the ‘bullish’ territory for SPY, in the ‘neutral’ territory for QQQ, and in the ‘bearish’ territory for DIA.

The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) was also down about 0.20% amid ‘bullish’ sentiment.

How Did US Markets Fare On Wednesday?

On Wednesday, U.S. benchmark indexes were higher at the close. The Dow Jones index jumped to a record high on optimism for a deal with Iran, closing 0.36% higher after adding more than 180 points.

The S&P 500 closed up marginally, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.07% higher at the close.

Index

Move

Close

Dow Jones Industrial Average

0.36%

50,644.28

S&P 500

0.02%

7,520.36

Nasdaq Composite

0.07%

26,674.73

US Market Drivers

Following a record day for stock markets, U.S. stock futures slipped lower after a report from Reuters said that the U.S. military had conducted new strikes in Iran.

The report cited a U.S. official, who said that the overnight strikes in Iran targeted ‌a military site and shot down four Iranian attack drones that were viewed as a threat around the critical strait, even as negotiations between the two countries to end the war were ongoing. As per the official, the attack was “purely ⁠defensive.”

Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump said at a cabinet meeting that no single country would have control over the critical waterway after reports suggested that commercial shipping ​through the strait would be restored to prewar levels within a month, with Iran and Oman managing traffic.

Story Continues

Trump also issued a threat to Oman, saying that the strait was international territory and that “Oman will behave just like everybody ⁠else, or we’ll have to blow them up.”

These moves came shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a White House Cabinet meeting that talks with Iran were making progress, and that the administration would prefer to take “the negotiated diplomatic route and we’re going to give it every chance to succeed.”

Meanwhile, a rally in technology stocks has helped ease some war-related concerns, pushing stock markets higher. Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) soared more than 36% in the overnight session after reporting strong earnings results. Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS) also surged more than 11% in extended trading hours.

On the economic front, a slew of key releases is likely to affect investor sentiment. Markets will be watching the latest data on the personal consumption expenditures price index, widely touted as the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation. Data around initial jobless claims and preliminary Q1 GDP revision are also due.

Trending Stocks To Watch

Ondas Inc. (ONDS): The autonomous drone, defense, and robotics company jumped onto the retail radar after its shares closed up by over 10% and continued to gain in the overnight session ahead of its 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS): Shares of the neocloud company jumped more than 11% in extended trading hours after former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund disclosed a 5.6% stake in the company.

Corsair Gaming Inc. (CRSR): The American gaming brand’s shares rallied by over 21% in Wednesday’s close, edging higher overnight as new AI portfolio launches, a strong first quarter, and optimism over its growth prospects stoked investor sentiment.

Red Cat Holdings Inc. (RCAT): The drone manufacturer’s shares soared more than 12% overnight after H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage on the stock with a ‘Buy’ rating and a price target that implied a potential upside of more than 100% from the stock’s Tuesday close.

Snowflake Inc. (SNOW): Shares of the company soared overnight after the company announced a $6-billion multi-year infrastructure deal with Amazon Web Services, its largest to date, and also posted strong Q1 results that beat Wall Street expectations.

Global Market Trends

Oil futures were headed higher overnight, but were still trading below $100 a barrel. Brent crude futures expiring in July were up about 1.88%, trading at around $96.06 a barrel at the time of writing, while WTI crude futures expiring in June were about 1.77% higher, trading around $90.25 a barrel.

Robin Brooks, a Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution and a former chief FX strategist and managing director at Goldman Sachs, believes that the risk for oil is skewed to the downside.

“Every time we’ve had rumors of a peace deal – and there’s been many – Brent futures have dropped about $10. If we get a genuine peace deal now, we’ll get a bigger drop because markets are distrustful after so many false dawns,” Brooks said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, yields on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.50%, while gold prices fell to around $4,421.47 per ounce.

Asian markets were all trading lower on Thursday, down from historic highs. The KOSPI was down about 0.34% at the time of writing, while the Nikkei 225 declined 0.09%. The SSE Composite index and Australian stocks were also lower at the open.

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Aashika Suresh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. StockTwits’ news team content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. For more, see our editorial policy. This article was originally published on StockTwits.

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