Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on July 15, 2025.
NYSE
U.S. stock futures ticked lower on Thursday morning. The moves follow a winning day after President Donald Trump denied that he was planning to fire Jerome Powell from his position as Federal Reserve chairman.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68 points, or 0.15%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both dipped about 0.2%.
During Wednesday’s regular session, the S&P 500 gained 0.32%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.26%. The 30-stock Dow rose 231.49 points, or 0.53%.
Stocks initially fell after a White House official said that Trump “likely will soon” fire Powell from his post, with the blue-chip Dow dropping more than 260 points at its session low. The New York Times also reported that Trump had even drafted a letter calling for Powell’s resignation to show House Republicans.
However, equities rebounded after the president downplayed the reports and said he was “not planning on doing it,” although adding that he does not “rule out anything.”
To Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management, Wednesday’s stock rebound indicates that the market may have already moved past Powell’s potential ousting.
“The only real piece of information, I would argue, that you got today is that firing Powell is not that big of a deal,” he said to CNBC.
Instead, Green said that at least in the near term, investors would likely continue to direct most of their attention toward upcoming earnings reports as the market’s most important catalyst. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Travelers, GE Aerospace, U.S. Bancorp and Citizens Financial Group are set to report earnings before Wednesday’s opening bell.
“I would be very surprised if we don’t get relatively positive reports out of the tech leaders. Not impossible, but surprised. Overall, that would suggest that the markets are going to experience some relief associated with earnings season not being as bad as people think,” Green said.
On Thursday, traders will also watch out for weekly jobless claims, the latest reading on June’s retail sales report and last month’s export and import price indexes.