Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
S&P 500 futures ticked lower Thursday night after the index posted a second consecutive losing day.
Futures tied to the broad market index were down 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%. Dow futures fell 94 points, or 0.2%.
In after-hours trading, Apple shares added about 1% after the company beat fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, aided by a significant surge in iPhone sales. Data storage stock Sandisk popped 14% on the back of strong guidance. KLA Corp lost more than 8% after guidance for non-GAAP gross margin in the fiscal third quarter came in light.
In the regular session, the S&P 500 closed 0.1% lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11%, or nearly 56 points.
A post-earnings plunge for Microsoft weighed on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The stock slid about 10% to notch its worst one-day decline since March 2020. This came after Microsoft reported a slight slowdown in the growth of its Azure cloud division and gave soft guidance on operating margin for the fiscal third quarter. Software stocks tumbled on growing fears that artificial intelligence could threaten software business models.
“This week brought the first wave of major tech earnings, with investors focused on results, guidance, and AI spending as a key market driver … A clear theme is emerging, in our view,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones.
“Companies are ramping up AI related infrastructure spending, and markets are rewarding those that can turn these investments into earnings,” he added. “Firms without a clear monetization strategy are facing more scrutiny.”
He added that while the tech sector is still expected to deliver strong profit growth, it’s slowing from earlier quarters as other sectors accelerate. This development supports “what we see as this year’s key theme: a broadening of market leadership,” Kourkafas said.
Week to date, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have each added nearly 0.8%. The 30-stock Dow is down nearly 0.1% on the week.
Investors are also keeping an eye on Washington as the Senate on Thursday failed to clear a procedural vote on a government funding package, putting the federal government at a big risk of a shutdown that could take effect on Saturday at 12:01 a.m. ET.
