Stock Market 28 February 2026

U.S. stock futures rose early Thursday, led by tech gains, with Nasdaq 100 futures up 1.44% and S&P 500 futures up 0.81%, rebounding from Wednesday’s declines. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady at 3.50%-3.75% but signaled a possible future rate hike, which contributed to a sharp drop in major indexes the previous day: the S&P 500 fell 1.2%, Nasdaq 1.3%, and Dow 507 points. Meta dropped 5.5% amid news of an executive departure tied to AI projects, while Microsoft fell 3.8% as investors weighed the Fed’s hawkish outlook and Microsoft’s AI spending plans. Nvidia closed down 1.3% at $204.65, with attention on its $25 billion bond sale and a broader tech retreat. Robinhood shares surged 8.7% premarket as the company announced a 10% staff cut and $28 million in restructuring charges. Allbirds, now Smartbird, jumped 39% after appointing a new CEO, selling its footwear assets, and doubling its convertible financing facility to $100 million. SoFi traded higher after its CEO bought more shares, despite a challenging environment for fintech lenders. American Airlines rose on lower oil prices and a price target hike from Jefferies, while SpaceX fell nearly 5% in its first full-session loss since its IPO, though shares remain above the IPO price. Intel gained 3.5% on progress in its manufacturing process and a price target increase from Bernstein. Coherent shares declined despite U.S. funding for its Texas plant, with concerns about valuation and supply. Coeur Mining dropped 6.8% but is set to join the S&P MidCap 400, and Ford fell 3.1% along with other automakers. In international markets, Nokia edged up in Helsinki but its U.S. ADR slipped, with the company focused on AI infrastructure growth. In Japan, CyberAgent was noted as potentially undervalued due to expanding anime content. U.S. markets will close Friday for Juneteenth, making Thursday the final trading day of the week.