Following Wednesday's record-breaking session, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are up triple digits this morning, while the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are also pointed modestly higher. Investors continue monitor peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, while focus has also turned to earnings season, with Netflix (NFLX) reporting after the close. Elsewhere, jobless claims fell to 207,000 last week, below the consensus 215,000 estimate.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange saw roughly 3 million call contracts and 1.4 million put contracts traded Wednesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.47, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.60.
- Shares of PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PEP) are up 0.8% premarket, after the beverage and snack maker posted a first-quarter earnings and revenue beat. The company cited a cut in pricing as the catalyst behind the growth. Despite consolidating on the charts of late, PEP remains up 8% for 2026.
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (NYSE:TSM) stock is down 2.4% before the open, brushing off another quarterly beat after the company warned the U.S.-Iran war would likely have a notable impact on financials. TSM has been outperforming on the charts, adding 138% over the past 12 months.
- Aerospace defense name Voyager Technologies Inc (NYSE:VOYG) is surging 7.6% ahead of the bell, after the company was chosen by NASA to support a private International Space Station mission. VOYG has tacked on 14.4% so far this year.
- Netflix earnings headline this week's calendar.
Japanese Markets Lead Gains
Asian markets rose across the board today, with Japan leading the charge. The Nikkei added 2.4%, nabbing an all-time high thanks to tech sector outperformance. South Korea’s Kospi gained 2.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.7%. The Shanghai Composite finished 0.7% higher, after China’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter grew 5%, above the 4.8% estimates.
In Europe, economic data is also in focus. U.K. GDP grew 0.5% in February, above the 0.1% estimates. Elsewhere, euro zone inflation came in at 2.6%, above the 2.5% estimates. At last look, London’s FTSE 100 is 0.7%, brushing off a post-earnings pullback from EasyJet. The French CAC 40 and German DAX are 0.5% and 0.7% higher, respectively.
