NEW YORK, April 30, 2026, 03:48 EDT
- U.S. stock futures slipped, with contracts tied to the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all in the red ahead of the open, while Brent crude hovered near a four-year high.
- The Fed kept rates unchanged. But with the most fractured vote since 1992, the focus quickly swung to inflation risk—not potential rate cuts.
- Alphabet and Amazon propped up the AI trade, while Meta’s ramped-up spending plan highlighted exactly where the pressure is hitting.
U.S. equity futures ticked lower ahead of Thursday’s session, pressured by another surge in oil that managed to overshadow upbeat cloud numbers from Alphabet and Amazon. Investors are left weighing the durability of the AI-driven run as inflation jitters resurface. According to Bloomberg, futures for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 all slipped just after 3:20 a.m. EDT. Meanwhile, Reuters noted Brent crude hitting its highest since March 2022, stoked by renewed worries over potential U.S. military action targeting Iran.
The market’s two main pillars, lower interest rates and Big Tech earnings, aren’t lining up the way they were. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve held its benchmark overnight rate at 3.50% to 3.75%, but worries about inflation triggered the most split vote at the central bank since 1992.
The first hurdle comes before regular trading starts. At 8:30 a.m. EDT, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will publish its first-quarter GDP report, a snapshot of economic output, along with March personal income and outlays figures. That update also includes the personal consumption expenditures price index—the inflation measure the Fed favors.
Oil is front and center. Brent has shot up—more than doubled since January—Reuters reports, with traders zeroed in on the Strait of Hormuz and worries that hostilities with Iran will keep Middle East supply snarled. “Prospects for any near-term resolution to the Iran conflict or a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remain dim,” wrote IG market analyst Tony Sycamore. Reuters
There’s also the rates story. Powell’s last Fed meeting saw traders dial back expectations for a rate cut this year, Reuters said, as three policymakers pushed back against language hinting at an “easing bias.” The divide tracks with the Fed’s statement, which “upgraded the concern on inflation,” Omair Sharif of Inflation Insights noted. Reuters
Not everything in the earnings batch leaned negative. Alphabet shares gained after the Google parent posted first-quarter revenue of $109.9 billion, outpacing LSEG’s forecast, with Google Cloud soaring 63% to $20 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai told analysts the real momentum in cloud now comes from enterprise AI offerings. Google’s also started selling its TPU chips directly to select customers, moving the company more squarely into Nvidia’s AI hardware territory.
Amazon’s numbers added a boost, with AWS revenue up 28% to $37.6 billion—comfortably ahead of what analysts were looking for. CEO Andy Jassy reaffirmed his $200 billion AI investment goal for this year. “The standout story,” said Investing.com senior analyst Jesse Cohen, referring to AWS growth. But D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria pointed out that Google Cloud is growing faster, which could leave some investors wanting more from Amazon. Reuters
Microsoft kept things stable—no fireworks, but no stumbles either. For the current quarter, the company projected growth in Azure and other cloud services between 39% and 40%, topping Visible Alpha’s estimates. It’s also planning to shell out $190 billion this calendar year, with a big chunk earmarked for AI infrastructure. “Confident in the return on these investments,” CFO Amy Hood said. Reuters
Meta sounded the alarm. The Facebook and Instagram owner dropped after bumping its 2026 capital spending target to $125 billion–$145 billion—up from the earlier $115 billion–$135 billion range—and flagged that legal and regulatory pressures around youth safety in both the U.S. and Europe could pinch results. D.A. Davidson’s Gil Luria said Meta hit its marks, but investors found its showing lackluster against Google’s numbers.
Apple steps up next among the megacaps. According to Reuters, analysts are anticipating that new CEO John Ternus will make his debut on the company’s earnings call. Hopes are pinned on robust iPhone sales to lift the numbers, while investors are keeping an eye on how the MacBook Neo performs. If Apple delivers a solid quarter, that could help shore up sentiment in the Nasdaq. A miss, though, could leave the market more vulnerable to the ongoing focus on oil and rates.
The headline GDP figure doesn’t really tell the whole story. According to Reuters, government spending gave a lift to first-quarter growth, but consumers pulled back—even before the spike in gasoline prices tied to Iran started squeezing wallets. “We remain in relatively slow growth mode, nothing exciting,” said Brian Bethune, economics professor at Boston College. Reuters
Investors could end up facing a tricky combination: oil prices climbing, PCE inflation not letting up, and gains coming mostly from the AI-centric names. That shifts the focus for Thursday’s open—less on whether Big Tech posts strong numbers, more on whether those results can actually counterbalance a Fed that might not have much flexibility to cut rates.
