U.S. stock futures were mixed on Thursday, as the Nasdaq 100 index fell and the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices rose, following Wednesday’s lower close.
On the economic front, July’s headline Producer Price Index (PPI) remained unchanged month-over-month, while core PPI—excluding foods, energy, and trade services—rose 0.4%. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 8 increased by 9,000 to 209,000, indicating continued labor market resilience.
After the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% year-over-year in July, down from June’s 3.5% increase, in line with expectations, investors will review July’s PPI and ex-food & energy PPI data, set to be released before the opening bell.
The U.S. and Iran made no progress on reviving their interim peace agreement, leaving the Strait of Hormuz heavily disrupted amid fresh attacks on commercial shipping, according to Reuters. Geopolitical tensions remain elevated as President Donald Trump took to social media, declaring that “Iran is all talk and no action, the Bully of the Middle East No Longer.”
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.67%, and the two-year bond was at 4.17%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool projections show markets pricing a 36.1% likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking the current interest rates during its September meeting.
| Index | Performance (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.26% |
| S&P 500 | 0.11% |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.12% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.14% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were higher in premarket on Thursday. The SPY was up 0.16% at $773.74, while the QQQ declined by 0.018% to $723.57.
Stocks In Focus
Cisco Systems
- Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) shares tumbled by 5.63% in premarket on Thursday despite better-than-expected financial results and guidance during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. However, it implemented a global baseline price increase of 3.4% to 4.0% across its core hardware and technical services portfolio.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CSCO maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms, with a good quality score.
Cerebras Systems
- Cerebras Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRS) dropped 17.39% as it reported a second-quarter GAAP loss of $2.98 per share and revenue of $180.11 million, missing the $194.2 million analyst estimate. However, core revenue more than doubled to $210 million, while its cloud business nearly quadrupled year-over-year.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CBRS maintains a strong price trend in the short, long, and medium terms.
Infleqtion
- Infleqtion Inc. (NYSE:INFQ) declined by 3.11% as it missed earnings per share estimates but reported second-quarter revenue of $12.63 million, beating analyst estimates of $10.64 million.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that INFQ maintains a weak price trend in the short, long, and medium terms.
Netflix
- Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) was 1.83% higher after Bill Ackman disclosed a new position in the company with 3.15 million shares, four years after exiting the stock with a $400 million loss.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NFLX maintains a weak price trend in the long, short, and medium terms, with a good growth score.
Applied Materials
- Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares rose by 0.63% ahead of its earnings scheduled to be released after the closing bell. Analysts expect quarterly earnings of $3.39 per share on revenue of $9.00 billion.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that AMAT maintains a strong price trend in the long and medium terms but a weak trend in the short term, with a poor value score.
Cues From Last Session
Real estate, information technology, and utilities stocks rose on Wednesday along with other sectors, except communication services, consumer discretionary, and materials.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Dow Jones | -0.04% | 53,770.27 |
| S&P 500 | 0.26% | 7,748.50 |
| Nasdaq Composite | 0.54% | 26,588.49 |
| Russell 2000 | 0.61% | 3,045.48 |
Insights From Analysts
BlackRock maintains an optimistic outlook for U.S. equities while preparing for structural shifts across the broader economy. Despite economic headwinds, BlackRock stays “overweight” on U.S. equities, pointing out that “strong corporate earnings, fueled by the AI buildout and a favorable macro backdrop, are outpacing higher interest rate expectations.”
Analysts project S&P 500 corporate earnings to grow by 11.6% annually over the next five years, though this outlook remains conditional on artificial intelligence boosting productivity and profit margins.
Economically, BlackRock foresees an environment shaped by “a structurally higher cost of capital” alongside persistent inflation risks.
BlackRock expects long-term bond yields to stay under upward pressure because “governments, AI hyperscalers and companies across the economy are competing ever more intensely for capital”.
Regarding stock valuations, BlackRock notes, “we see valuations falling as earnings growth outpaces share price gains, allowing multiples to decline over time.”
To navigate this regime, they prefer targeted equity exposures tied to AI infrastructure bottlenecks—such as chips, power, and data centers—as well as sectors like healthcare and technology.
Upcoming Economic Data
Here’s what investors will be keeping an eye on Thursday.
- Initial Jobless Claims (Week ending Aug. 8): Rose by 9,000 to 209,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 200,000.
- July Producer Price Index (PPI): Unchanged (0.0%) month-over-month and up 4.7% on an unadjusted 12-month basis.
- July Core PPI (Excluding Foods, Energy, and Trade): Advanced 0.4% month-over-month and increased 4.7% over the past 12 months.
- Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin will speak at 8:40 a.m. ET.
Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets
Crude Oil WTI futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 1.81% to hover around $81.76 per barrel.
Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.78% to hover around $4,374.23 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.02% lower at the 99.9930 level.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.01% higher at $63,739.58 per coin over the last 24 hours.
Asian markets were lower on Thursday, except Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi indices. Australia’s ASX 200, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, India’s Nifty 50 and China’s CSI 300 indices fell. European markets were mixed in early trading.
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