Nasdaq futures rise in run-up to tech results, Fed

US equity-index futures rose as investors positioned ahead of a raft of earnings from the largest technology companies in what has been a generally upbeat reporting season. Markets are also awaiting a Federal Reserve policy decision.

Futures contracts for the Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 0.5% with Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. all due to announce results Wednesday. S&P 500 Index futures also rose, while MSCI’s Asia Pacific share benchmark advanced 0.3%. European shares were set for a modest gain.

Brent crude whipsawed before trading 0.1% lower at $111.19 per barrel. The commodity had earlier risen to almost $112 following a Wall Street Journal report that President Donald Trump told his aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran. That could effectively keep the Strait of Hormuz shut.

Optimistic moves in Asia sets up a key trading day, with megacap technology companies reporting while investors look to the Fed for clues on the direction of interest rates. Technology companies have helped global equities rally in recent weeks to erase losses from the Middle East conflict, making this week’s earnings announcements crucial for sustaining the rally.

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“We will see the big hyperscalers with very strong numbers on cloud demand,” Hartmut Issel, head of Asia Pacific equities and credit at UBS Wealth Management in Singapore, said on Bloomberg Television. “That tells you there is no shortage of demand as such and that’s the important part.”

In other corners of the market, Treasury futures were little changed after falling Tuesday when elevated oil prices drove up inflation expectations and curbed bets for Fed interest-rate cuts ahead of Wednesday’s policy announcement. Trading in cash Treasuries is closed in Asian hours Wednesday due to a holiday in Japan and will reopen in London.

Gold edged up to around $4 600 an ounce, while Bitcoin led cryptocurrencies higher. The original token traded around $77 275.

Artificial intelligence continued to power Asian stocks. After lagging behind US equities in the immediate aftermath of the Iran war, Asia has staged a strong rebound on optimism around AI. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has surged 14% this month, headed for its best month since November 2022. It is also outpacing the S&P 500’s 9.3% gain.

The tech sector’s earnings are expected to have grown 41% in the first quarter, data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence shows. That’s the biggest gain among all S&P 500 sectors and nearly double that of materials — the next-best performer. The companies have so far been largely shielded from the disruptions of the Iran war, helping them avoid the consumer spending woes, economic uncertainty and supply chain crunches which roil areas such as energy.

Elsewhere, the United Arab Emirates said it will leave OPEC next month, in a significant blow to the group that raises questions about its future. The UAE’s exit May 1 after six decades of membership is the latest indication of how the conflict is reshaping global energy markets.

Meanwhile, in recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports, the Journal report said.

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Trump assessed that his other options — resume bombing or walk away from the conflict — carried more risk than maintaining the blockade, officials said.

“It is clear the Iran conflict is entering a stalemate where there is no more bombing, but no resolution to the conflict either, and no nuclear deal or flow of vessels through the Strait,” said Rodrigo Catril, strategist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Sydney. “Oil prices are likely to be supported from here and the complacency of risk assets including US equities could be challenged.”

Corporate news:

A constellation of AI stocks dropped after OpenAI reportedly failed to meet its sales and user targets.
Kone Oyj is nearing a cash-and-stock deal to acquire TK Elevator, people familiar with the matter said, in what will be one of the biggest-ever private equity exits in Europe.
Visa Inc. earnings topped estimates as consumers used the company’s branded cards for transactions across the world.
Starbucks Corp. reported better-than-expected quarterly results and said it now sees comparable sales rising at least 5% this year, up from its previous view of 3% or more.
Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman Corp. and Jameson whiskey maker Pernod Ricard SA terminated talks about a potential merger.
The US has warned banks they are at risk of secondary sanctions if they support Chinese private refiners that buy Iranian oil, cranking up pressure on Tehran even at the cost of further irking Beijing just weeks ahead of a leaders’ meeting.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 2:11 p.m. Tokyo time
Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 0.9%
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%\
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.3%
The Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%
Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
The euro was little changed at $1.1705
The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.66 per dollar
The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8380 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 1% to $77,262.82
Ether rose 1.4% to $2,328.23

Bonds

Japan’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 2.465%
Australia’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 5.00%

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $99.77 a barrel
Spot gold rose 0.1% to $4,602.66 an ounce

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