Tonight Highlights | Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire; US Index Futures Edge Higher
On Wednesday (April 22), US stock index futures rose across the board in pre-market trading following President Trump’s announcement of an extended ceasefire with Iran.
As of press time, Dow futures were up 0.64%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.61%, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.77%.
In the previous session, US stocks weakened late in the day, with all three major indices closing down approximately 0.6%. This followed news that the Iranian negotiating team informed US officials via Pakistani intermediaries that they would not be traveling to Islamabad as scheduled.
However, after the closing bell, Trump posted that at the request of Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff and the Prime Minister, the US would suspend military strikes and extend the ceasefire. He further demanded that Iran present a unified negotiation proposal first.
Stephanie Aliaga, Global Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, commented:
"Regarding the Middle East conflict, we are clearly not out of the woods yet, but the market is forward-looking, and we remain on a path toward de-escalation."
While risks remain, Aliaga expects the rally to continue, fueled by the AI boom and productivity gains.
Corporate News & AI Trends
AI Dominance: Boosted by AI demand, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has closed higher for 15 consecutive sessions, nearing its longest winning streak in history.
Meta’s Bold Move: An internal memo reveals Meta is installing tracking software on US employees' computers to record mouse movements and keystrokes. This data will be used to train AI agents capable of autonomous task execution, raising significant workplace surveillance concerns.
DeepSeek Investment: Tech giants Tencent and Alibaba are reportedly in talks to invest in the AI startup DeepSeek at a valuation exceeding $200 billion.
Tesla China: Tesla's in-car voice assistant service completed regulatory filing on April 20. Reports suggest it will integrate the Doubao and DeepSeek large language models via ByteDance’s Volcano Engine.
NVIDIA & Energy: NVIDIA has reportedly approached major South Korean power equipment firms to discuss designing data center infrastructure based on 800V DC systems.
SpaceX "IPO Bombshell": In pre-IPO filings, SpaceX warned investors that its ambitions for space-based AI data centers and Mars settlements rely on "unproven technologies" and may not be commercially viable.
Earnings & Sector Performance
GE Vernova: Shares jumped over 8% pre-market after Q1 revenue ($9.34B) and EPS ($17.44) beat expectations. Data center equipment orders in Q1 alone exceeded the total for all of last year.
Aviation Struggles: United Airlines slashed its full-year profit guidance due to a $340M increase in fuel costs. Meanwhile, budget carrier Spirit Airlines may face liquidation following potential back-to-back bankruptcy filings.
Ferrari: The luxury automaker set the preliminary price for its first all-electric supercar, the Luce, at approximately €550,000 ($647,000), positioning it above the Purosangue SUV.
Antitrust: Italy has launched an investigation into Booking.com over allegations that its ranking algorithm constitutes unfair commercial practices by favoring hotels that pay higher commissions.