US stock futures fell Thursday after Wall Street endured another down session for tech stocks, as Apple (AAPL) results closed out a mixed bag of Big Tech reports for the week and investors awaited President Trump’s pick to lead the Fed.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 (ES=F) moved lower by about 0.6%, while Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) slid 0.7%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) fell roughly around 0.5%.
Focus is turning to Trump’s pick to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell, which the president said he would announce Friday morning. Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh has emerged as the favorite, with Fed governor Chris Waller, BlackRock chief of fixed income Rick Rieder, and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.
The announcement would come days after the Powell-led Fed’s first rate decision of 2026, in which it held rates steady, again infuriating Trump. Traders continue to expect roughly two quarter-point rate reductions before the end of the year, according to CME FedWatch.
Earnings movers drove after-hours action. Apple (AAPL) shares rose around 1% after the company topped fiscal first-quarter profit and sales estimates, fueled by stronger-than-expected iPhone demand.
Apple’s results capped a week of mixed reports from Big Tech Microsoft (MSFT) shares sank roughly 10% on Thursday, marking their steepest single-day decline since March 2020 and weighing heavily on both the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq (^IXIC). The sell-off followed signs of slowing growth in the company’s cloud business. The results sparked broader losses across software stocks as investors assessed the impact of artificial intelligence on revenue versus the sky-high spend needed to attain it.
Elsewhere in corporates, data storage company Sandisk (SNDK) surged 11% after issuing upbeat forward guidance.
Despite recent volatility, major indexes remain mostly higher for the week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are each up, while the Dow (^DJI) remains slightly down. All of the indexes are also pacing for January gains.
With a slew of Big Tech names having already reported earnings, market focus now aims towards oil producers, with Exxon (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) due to release reports before the open on Friday. American Express (AXP) and Verizon (VZ) round out the earnings slate in a stacked week.
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