Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures rise as Tesla, Meta, Microsoft diverge after earnings

Updated Thu, January 29, 2026 at 3:09 AM EST 2 min read

US stock futures stepped higher on Thursday as investors digested a fresh batch of megacap earnings alongside the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision.

Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) led gains, up 0.4%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) added 0.3%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), which includes fewer tech names, traded broadly flat after the major indexes closed little changed on Wednesday.

Meta (META) surged as much as 10% in extended trading after issuing a quarterly revenue outlook that topped Wall Street estimates, even as it said its AI ambitions would fuel spending to as much as $135 billion this year. Tesla (TSLA) gained around 2% after reporting quarterly results that exceeded expectations.

But Microsoft (MSFT) shares slid over 5% as investors reacted to slower cloud growth during its fiscal second quarter and higher-than-anticipated capital spending and finance lease costs.

Investors are now gearing up for Apple’s (AAPL) quarterly earnings, due after the closing bell.

Meanwhile, investors are still digesting the Fed’s first interest rate decision for 2026, in which the central bank held rates at the current rate. The central bank noted that the labor market is showing signs of stabilization, and Chair Jerome Powell suggested the Fed was ready to make decisions on a meeting-by-meeting basis. Still, futures markets are still pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts by the end of 2026, according to CME FedWatch.

Looking ahead, investors are gearing up for Apple’s (AAPL) fiscal first-quarter earnings, due after Thursday’s closing bell. Mastercard (MA), American Express, (AXP) and Verizon (VZ) are also scheduled to report results this week. On the data front, markets will be watching weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders, and wholesale inventory figures for further clues on the health of the economy.

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