Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, U.S., May 7, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures were higher Thursday after President Donald Trump announced a trade deal between the U.S. and United Kingdom had been struck.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 352 points, or 0.9%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures climbed 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.
“The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” Trump said in a Truth Social post after teasing the announcement in previous posts.
Shares of megacap tech companies led the way higher in the premarket. Apple and Nvidia gained more than 1% each, while Meta Platforms advanced 2%. Tesla and Amazon also advanced more than 1% each.
Investors have been looking for signs of progress on global trade after Trump last month unveiled steep tariffs on imported goods. The levies initially sent equities sharply lower, but they later recovered.
Thursday’s moves come after a winning session on Wall Street as investors digested the latest Federal Reserve policy announcement.
The Fed kept its benchmark overnight borrowing unchanged. However, the central bank noted in its statement that “Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further.” It added that the “Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen.”
“The Federal Reserve is in a bind – with concerns about inflation and an economic slump, which will lead to higher unemployment, pulling them in two opposite directions,” said Chris Zaccarelli, Northlight Asset Management’s chief investment officer. “The markets are going to increasingly worry about a recession, and unless some trade deals are made before the tariff pause runs out, we are going to see markets drop again like they did in early April.”
Investors are now looking ahead to other economic reports due to be released on Thursday. Weekly jobless claims data is set to be released before the opening bell at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the New York Fed Survey of Consumer Expectations is slated for later in the day.
Trump announces U.S.-U.K. trade deal to come
Trump posted on Truth Social of a trade deal between the U.S. and the United Kingdom set to be announced Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.Â
“The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” the post stated.
In a separate statement on Truth Social also regarding the trade deal announcement, Trump added that the agreement with the U.K. is “the first of many.”
— Hakyung Kim
Positioning momentum in U.S. stocks has stalled even with positive catalysts, Citi says
U.S. equity positioning may not be all that upbeat despite recent trade developments and quarterly results, according to Citi.
“De-escalating trade tensions and a better-than-expected earnings season have led to a period of stability for investor positioning. However, the uplift from bullish flows has been considerably restrained,” Chris Montagu, the firm’s global head of quantitative research, wrote in a note on Wednesday.
Montagu found that positioning momentum levels are actually close to neutral for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite.
“Limited bullish flows were overshadowed by increasing short positioning, leading to a decline in positioning levels for the S&P,” he continued. “Nasdaq positioning edged higher, but neither index reflected a strong shift towards bullish positioning over the past week.”
— Sean Conlon
AppLovin, Arm among the stocks making moves after hours
Check out the stocks making big moves in extended trading on Wednesday:
- AppLovin – The AI-powered marketing platform saw shares rallying 13% in extended trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results. AppLovin’s posted an EPS of $1.67, higher than an LSEG consensus estimate of $1.45 per share. Revenue of $1.48 billion also came in above expectations. The company also announced it’s selling its mobile gaming business to Tripledot Studios for consideration of $400 million in cash and an approximately 20% ownership stake in Tripledot common equity.
- Arm Holdings – U.S. traded shares of the chip designer slid 9% after the company’s guidance failed to impress Wall Street. Arm sees fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings ranging from 30 cents to 38 cents a share, while FactSet consensus estimates sought 42 cents per share. Guidance on revenue for the period ranged from $1.00 billion to $1.10 billion, while estimates called for $1.10 billion. The outlook overshadowed beats on the top and bottom lines in the fiscal fourth quarter.
- Skyworks Solutions – The semiconductor stock dropped 4% even after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the fiscal second quarter. Skyworks posted adjusted earnings of $1.24 per share on $953 million in revenue, above the $1.20 per share and $952 million in revenue that analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting. The company also forecast upbeat earnings for the third quarter.
Read here for the full list.
— Sean Conlon
Stock futures open lower
U.S. stock futures traded down Wednesday night after the three major averages saw gains during the day’s regular session.
Just after 6 p.m. ET, S&P 500 futures moved 0.2% lower, as well as Nasdaq-100 futures. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 85 points, or 0.2%.
— Sean Conlon
