Following another record-breaking session, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are all markedly higher this morning. President Donald Trump said he expected the war with Iran to be "ending pretty soon," with the two sides likely meeting this weekend, per a New York Times report.
Buzz from Israel and Lebanon's 10-day ceasefire also fueled the Middle East relief rally, sending West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lower, last seen down 4.2%. Stateside, an underperforming Netflix (NFLX) suffering from weak guidance could weigh on the tech sector.
- Signal: uranium stock could keep climbing.
- Why commodity options might be the right way to go.
- Plus, Alcoa stock cools; transportation stock slides; and Alphabet pens another deal.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange saw roughly 2.9 million call contracts and 1.3 million put contracts traded Thursday. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.45, while the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.60.
- Shares of Alcoa Corp (NYSE:AA) are down 2.3% premarket, after the aluminum maker posted a first-quarter earnings and revenue miss. AA is up 180% over the past 12 months, tapping a nearly four-year high of $75.69 on April 9.
- Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc (NYSE:KNX) stock is down 1.1% before the open, following the transportation company's lowered first-quarter outlook, citing fuel costs and weather as headwinds. KNX has added 23% in 2026, yesterday tapping a record high of $65.71.
- Energy name NiSource Inc (NYSE:NI) is moving 3.5% higher ahead of the bell, after signing a long-term deal with Alphabet (GOOGL) to supply energy for its data centers and an expanded deal with Amazon.com (AMZN). Since the start of 2026, NI has added 14.2%.
- See what's on deck for next week.
Asian Markets Fumble Despite Stateside Outperformance
Asian markets struggled today, unable to capitalize on the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.8% amid a bout of profit taking. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.6% despite small cap outperformance. China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9%.
In Europe, bourses are mixed. London’s FTSE 100 is 0.3% lower at last look, with airliner easyJet a notable laggard once more. The French CAC 40 is up 0.4%, brushing off a selloff from train stock Alstom. The German DAX is up 0.5%, with Lufthansa in focus after grounding planes and cutting flight capacity.
