U.S. stock futures declined on Thursday, as the Dow Jones, Nasdaq 100, and S&P 500 indices fell, following Wednesday’s higher close.
President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate even as U.S. forces launched a second wave of strikes against Iranian military targets.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury announced new sanctions targeting an international network accused of procuring weapons for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.57%, and the two-year bond was at 4.15%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool’s projections show markets pricing an 89.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged during July’s meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | -0.01% |
| S&P 500 | -0.08% |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.36% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.28% |
Stocks In Focus
JB Hunt Transport Services
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that JBHT maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a moderate quality score.Agape ATP
Agape ATP Corp. (NASDAQ: ATPC ) surged 55.56% following the Securities and Exchange Commission filing that disclosed a new stake held by proprietary trading firm and liquidity provider Jane Street Group LLC. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that ATPC maintains a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms.AST SpaceMobile
AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTS ) tumbled 10.01% after the company announced a $1.0 billion proposed public offering of Convertible Senior Notes. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that ASTS maintains a weak price trend in the long, short, and medium terms.Growhub
Growhub Ltd. (NASDAQ: TGHL ) gained 33.89% after the company announced a $400 million merger agreement with EnChem. Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that TGHL maintains a weak price trend in the long term but a strong trend in the short and medium terms.AtaiBeckley
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that ATAI maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms.Cues From Last Session
Consumer discretionary, financial, and communication services stocks recorded the biggest gains on Wednesday, while utilities and energy stocks bucked the overall market trend, closing the session lower.
Insights From Analysts
BlackRock remains tactically constructive on the U.S. stock market while navigating a fundamentally transformed economic landscape. In its commentary, the firm maintains an overweight position on U.S. equities, noting that “strong corporate earnings, fueled by the AI buildout and a favorable macro backdrop, are outpacing higher interest rate expectations.”
Within equities, BlackRock advises focusing closely on AI bottleneck opportunities such as power, chips, and data centers.
Regarding the broader economy and policy environment, BlackRock emphasizes that a structural shift has taken hold, reinforcing its view that “the global rates reset is real and significant.”
The firm cautions that underlying inflation remains too firm to confidently return to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, which will likely keep the central bank on hold.
In this “new regime” of elevated rates, fixed-income dynamics have changed. While higher yields have made durable income an opportunity again,
BlackRock warns that long-term bonds are “less reliable diversifiers”. Consequently, the firm prefers the front end and belly of the U.S. yield curve, advising investors to target areas where they are best compensated for risk.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on this Thursday.
Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude Oil WTI futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.08% to hover around $79.54 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.65% to hover around $4,033.80 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.05% higher at the 100.5320 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 1.00% lower at $64,042.02 per coin over the last 24 hours.
Asian markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, except Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and India’s Nifty 50 indices. China’s CSI 300, Australia’s ASX 200, South Korea’s Kospi, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices fell. European markets were mostly lower in early trade.
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