Traders work in the S&P options pit at open of trading at the Cboe Global Markets exchange on March 04, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. I
Scott Olson | Getty Images
S&P 500 futures slid early Thursday after major averages posted gains in the previous session, as investor jitters around the U.S.-Iran war eased.
Futures tied to the broad market index fell 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.18%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 140 points, or 0.28%.
Stocks rebounded in Wednesday’s regular session, buoyed by gains in technology and semiconductor giants. The Dow jumped about 238 points, or 0.5%, ending a three-day losing run. The S&P 500 closed up 0.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.3%.
Nvidia shares rose more than 1%. Chipmakers Broadcom, Micron Technology, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel also notched gains. Consumer staples, energy and materials were the only S&P 500 sectors that posted losses on the day.
“Things are changing around the edges. We have a geopolitical shock, obviously, and we’re still parsing that in terms of how it could impact the risk premium for equities,” said Bank of America Securities head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategy Savita Subramanian on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”
“But beyond that, I think what we’re seeing is the tide slowly going out for some of the beneficiaries of a very low interest rate environment,” she added.
Oil prices stabilized on Wednesday after this week’s surge, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settling up 0.13% and international benchmark Brent crude oil futures ending the session at the flatline.
Fears of disruption to regional oil and gas supplies subsided after President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the U.S. is preparing to provide risk insurance and escorts to ships in the Persian Gulf in an effort to ensure traffic can move through the Strait of Hormuz. To be sure, the White House would not provide a timeline for when the strait, which is responsible for roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply, will be safe for oil tankers.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday in a briefing with reporters that the U.S. is “winning decisively” in its conflict with Iran and that more forces are arriving to the region.
Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that Trump’s recently announced 15% global tariff will likely go into effect this week.
Investors are awaiting earnings results due Thursday morning from retailers Kroger, Burlington and BJ’s Wholesale. Costco and Marvell Technology will report results after market close.
On the economic front, weekly jobless claims are also due Thursday.
South Korea’s Kospi rebounds to clock its best day since 2008, soaring 10%
South Korea’s Kospi jumped as much as 12% on Thursday, staging a sharp rebound from its worst session, and on course to clock its best day, data from LSEG showed.
The index subsequently pared gains, rising 9.6% to 5,583.9, with heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics surging more than 10% and 11%, respectively.
The small-cap Kosdaq closed 14.1% higher at 1,116.41.
Year-to-date performance of South Korean shares
South Korea’s Kospi stages a sharp rebound, surging 10%, on course for best day since 2008
South Korea’s Kospi jumped as much as 12% on Thursday, staging a sharp rebound from its worst session, and on course to clock its best day, data from LSEG showed.
The index subsequently pared some gains to trade nearly 10% higher.
Other Asia-Pacific markets also jumped Thursday, rebounding after several days of steep losses as sentiment improved following overnight gains on Wall Street and easing concerns over surging oil prices.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.1% higher.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.7%, after sliding 3% in the previous session.
Hong Kong Hang Seng index is up over 1%, while the CSI 300 rose 0.86%.
Taiwan’s benchmark index Taiex jumped more than 4%.
—Lee Ying Shan
Nvidia CEO Huang says company’s $30 billion OpenAI investment ‘might be the last’
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s recent $30 billion investment in OpenAI “might be the last time” it invests in the artificial intelligence startup before it could go public toward the end of the year.
Huang said the opportunity to invest $100 billion in OpenAI, which was the figure that the two companies touted as part of a massive infrastructure deal in September, is probably “not in the cards.” “The reason for that is because they’re going to go public,” Huang said during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Wednesday.
He also mentioned that Nvidia’s $10 billion investment in OpenAI rival Anthropic would likely be its last. Nvidia previously shared its plans to invest in Anthropic in an announcement alongside Microsoft in November. More in CNBC here.
— Ashley Capoot
Okta, Broadcom, StubHub among stocks moving in extended trading
Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading.
- Okta — Okta beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter expectations, leading shares of the identity security provider to add about 2%. Okta reported adjusted earnings of 90 cents per share on $761 million in revenue, exceeding analysts’ estimate of 85 cents per share in earnings and $749 million in revenue for the period, per LSEG.
- Broadcom — Shares of the heavyweight chipmaker flitted between gains and losses in the extended session. Broadcom reported strong results for its fiscal first quarter, posting revenue that grew 29% year over year. The company’s adjusted earnings per share of $2.05 and revenue of $19.31 billion came out higher than analysts’ expectations of $2.03 per share in earnings and $19.18 billion in revenue, per LSEG. Revenue guidance for the current quarter also surpassed estimates.
- StubHub — Shares of the secondary ticketing marketplace tumbled 6%. Fourth quarter revenue of $449 million fell short of the LSEG consensus estimate of $484 million. The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization came in at $62.7 million, roughly in line with estimates.
For the full list, read here.
— Pia Singh
