Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 20, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Pratt | Getty Images
Stock futures were little changed Wednesday morning after setting records on the back of strong corporate earnings.
S&P500 futures Although it rose by 0.1%, Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.1%. futures tied to Dow Jones Industrial Average He scored 19 points.
Traders read a flurry of new earnings reports. Netflix The stock price fell 7% due to the company’s poor performance. intuitive surgery The stock price rose 18% on the back of strong earnings and earnings.
At one point Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new high of more than $47,000 after strong quarterly results reported by companies like Coca-Cola. The 30-stock index closed at a record high, just below that mark.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ended the day largely unchanged, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended slightly lower as some risk-on technology stocks lost momentum. President Donald Trump said his planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week is “probably not going to happen.” This increased uncertainty regarding US-China trade tensions that could lead to higher tariffs and issues that could impact the semiconductor industry.
Still, investors are hoping that a flurry of earnings reports could provide the next boost needed to keep U.S. stocks rising. Tesla’s Wednesday’s financial results are scheduled to be released after the bell, when the long-awaited report of the super-large tech group “The Magnificent Seven” begins. More than three-quarters of S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far have beat expectations, according to FactSet.
“The next step up from here will be if the returns end up being better than expected and tech stocks really prove that AI trading is intact,” Alicia Levine, head of investment strategy and equities at BNY Wealth, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
“We really have to get past the 6,800 level in the S&P to really believe there’s another leg here. That’s the technical side, but on the fundamental side, I think we’ll get there,” Levine added.
Friday’s release of the September Consumer Price Index report is another key event that traders are looking forward to this week, especially since all other data releases have been suspended during the U.S. government shutdown. The inflation data should provide further information to central bank officials ahead of a meeting scheduled for late October. Markets are widely expected to announce that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut its overnight borrowing rate by a quarter of a percentage point, and possibly announce another rate cut in December.
