New York, June 4, 2026, 06:03 EDT
- Nasdaq 100 futures slipped ahead of the open, with U.S. index contracts mostly lower. Dow futures traded just above flat.
- Broadcom fell in premarket trading. The chipmaker’s earnings and AI forecast didn’t meet lofty expectations.
- Oil prices slipped as Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire, but traders stayed wary with some risk from Iran still hanging over the market.
Stock-index futures moved in different directions early Thursday, as tech stocks came under pressure. Broadcom’s earnings update hit the AI trade, sending Nasdaq 100 futures down. At 05:16 a.m. ET, Dow futures were up 0.24%, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.49%, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.23%, according to Reuters.
Stocks fell Wednesday after U.S. equities paused their record run this week. The Dow closed down 1.21%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.74%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.89%. Investors pointed to tension in the Middle East, rising oil, and some profit-taking as drivers.
U.S. exchanges will run regular hours Thursday. According to the NYSE’s 2026 holiday calendar, the next full-market day off in June is Juneteenth, which falls on Friday, June 19. Traders are watching the premarket setup, with no shortened holiday session on tap.
Broadcom shares dropped roughly 12% premarket. The chipmaker missed on quarterly revenue and did not impress some investors with its AI outlook. Reuters reported the stock stood to lose more than $285 billion in market value if premarket losses stuck.
Broadcom is hitting expectations and even edging past them, but that isn’t cutting it with investors, Dan Coatsworth at AJ Bell said in a comment to Reuters. Nvidia is still the leader in AI chips, and Marvell Technology is pushing ahead in custom chips for big cloud companies.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, called the Broadcom drop “a classic case of very high expectations meeting a market that wanted perfection.” TD Cowen analysts said the quarter left “lingering questions” about execution and ramp timelines, according to Reuters. Reuters
AI stocks kept moving this week. Chip names rose Wednesday, bucking a slide in the wider market. Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, said AI stocks are “trading on their own completely separate world,” and still saw buyers even as other sectors cooled. Broadcom’s drop showed the risk for these trades is getting tighter. Reuters
Oil dropped, easing some pressure on stocks. Brent crude lost 0.8% to $97.03 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.7% at $95.32. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire, spurring talk of a broader regional deal and maybe a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping lane.
Relief stayed muted. “In our view, the path of least resistance for prices remains to the upside as long as flows remain restricted,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. PVM Oil analyst John Evans said Iran’s comments on stopping Israeli action against Hezbollah suggested “there does seem a breakthrough,” but he said a settled outcome wasn’t clear. Reuters
Stocks faced another awkward macro backdrop. U.S. services activity expanded in May, with the ISM services index posting 54.5, keeping it above the 50 level that divides growth from contraction. Input prices stayed high as firms braced for shortages tied to the Iran war.
Traders are looking ahead to jobless claims due later Thursday and the U.S. payrolls report on Friday. Reuters reported that investors saw a 75% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike before year-end, based on LSEG data. That’s putting pressure on longer-duration growth names, especially tech stocks.
Setups can flip fast. A lasting regional ceasefire, weaker oil, or less choppy trading in Broadcom and other AI names could steady the Nasdaq. But new tension around the Strait of Hormuz or another hot labor read could stir inflation worries and put the Federal Reserve in a tougher spot. Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, called the market a “tug of war” between solid U.S. fundamentals and Middle East risks, putting the length of any Hormuz shutdown at the center of inflation bets. Reuters
Dow futures are showing small gains early, while Nasdaq futures are lagging. Investors are holding back on the AI trades with jobs numbers due Friday. CrowdStrike dropped in premarket after its revenue growth left some disappointed, adding to weakness in high-growth tech.
