S&P 500 futures rise as China signals openness to trade talks with U.S.: Live updates

13 hours ago 46

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on May 1, 2025.

NYSE

S&P 500 futures rose Thursday evening as investors cheered China's announcement that it is evaluating the possibility of starting trade negotiations with the U.S.

Futures tied to the broad-based index added 0.68%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures jumped 0.82% or 337 points while the Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.32%.

Wall Street also digested earnings reports from two "Magnificent Seven" members and braced for a big jobs report.

In extended trading, Apple slid 4% after posting fiscal second-quarter revenue from its Services division that fell short against Wall Street's estimates. The iPhone maker also said it expects to add $900 million in costs in the current quarter due to tariffs. Amazon dropped 2% after issuing light guidance and highlighting "tariffs and trade policies" as factors.

The moves come after the major averages rose to kick off May, with the tech sector catching a tailwind after results from Meta Platforms and Microsoft helped revive the artificial intelligence trade. The 30-stock Dow added 0.2%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.6%. Both indexes posted eight-day win streaks. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5% and wiped out its losses since April 2, the day of President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs announcement.

Nearly two-thirds of the S&P 500 constituents have announced their results, with 76% posting earnings that have surpassed estimates, according to data from FactSet.

"I think obviously you've had some dialing back of the tariff intensity, but Q1 earnings have been at the huge driver behind the rally we've seen in the S&P 500," Adam Crisafulli, Vital Knowledge founder, said Thursday on CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime."

Another catalyst awaits traders on Friday morning in the form of April's jobs report as investors look for further clues on the state of the U.S. economy. Economists polled by Dow Jones anticipate payrolls grew by 133,000 last month, down sharply from the 228,000 added in March. They also expect the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.2%.

The payrolls report is the latest in a blast of economic data this week, with a gross domestic product reading that showed the economy contracted 0.3% at an annualized pace in the first quarter. Private payrolls data from ADP also came in weak, and the latest weekly jobless claims ballooned to 241,000, far greater than expected.

Thus far, all three major averages are on pace for their second winning week in a row. The S&P 500 is on pace to rise 1.4% this week, while the Dow is on track for a 1.6% advance. The Nasdaq is up 1.9% week to date.

Correction: An earlier version misstated which tech companies reported on Thursday.

Individual investor bullishness below average for 16th week in 18, AAII says

Bullishness about the outlook for stocks over the next six months stayed below its historical average for the 16th week out of the past 18, according to the latest weekly survey by the American Association of Individual Investors.

Only 20.9% of retail investors described themselves as bulls in the survey, down from 21.9% last week, 25.4% two weeks ago and 28.5% as recently as April 9. Historically, 37.5% of investors regard themselves as bullish over time.

Pessimism among individual investors about the short-term outlook for stocks increased in the latest sentiment survey, rising to 59.3% from 55.6% last week and an historical average of 31.0%.

The balance of Main Street investors say they're neutral toward stocks.

— Scott Schnipper

Best-case scenario for trade war still isn't good, GlobalData TS Lombard says

Even the best case scenario for markets and the U.S. economy isn't so hot, according to Grace Fan, a global policy researcher at GlobalData TS Lombard.

The Trump administration "is clearly targeting 'quick win' deals with major trading partners by the end of the 90-day pause on July 9," Fan wrote Thursday. "In the best case, such interim trade deals would accompany a budget and tariff settlement in Congress that would also head off legal challenges, especially to the 'baseline' universal 10% tariff," she said.

A best case at mid-year would also result in "the China stand-off parked in a holding zone." But, unfortunately, "even if all of that were achieved (a long shot), business uncertainty would be reduced but far from eliminated."

The researcher argues that, "Recession risk is the key determinant of Trump seeking off-ramps: how high is his pain threshold? Probably lower than its main trade-war opponents." At the same time, damaged confidence in the U.S. dollar and Treasurys means "there is limited fiscal policy headroom ... while tariff-related inflation pressure inhibits Fed interest rate cuts."

— Scott Schnipper

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours

Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading:

Apple — The iPhone maker shed 2% after its closely watched Services division performed below expectations in the fiscal second quarter. Services revenue came in at $26.65 billion, lower than the $26.70 billion analysts surveyed by StreetAccount anticipated. Overall earnings and revenue during the period beat Wall Street's expectations.

Airbnb — Shares slipped more than 4%. Airbnb expects second-quarter revenue in a range between $2.99 billion and $3.05 billion, or $3.02 billion at the middle of the range. Analysts had forecast $3.04 billion in revenue. Management noted softening trends in the U.S. segment on a sequential on a year-over-year basis due to macro uncertainty.

Amazon — The e-commerce giant fell about 4% after its second-quarter operating income guidance range missed analysts' estimates. Amazon is forecasting operating income to land between $13 billion and $17.5 billion, which missed the $17.64 billion consensus call, according to StreetAccount. Meanwhile, Amazon managed to beat on both the top and bottom lines in the first quarter.

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim