US Stock Futures Falter as Ford, Qualcomm Slide: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — US stock index futures wavered as heavyweights including Ford Motor Co. and Qualcomm Inc. slumped in premarket trading after disappointing earnings.

S&P 500 futures pared an early gain fueled by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comment that the Trump administration is focusing on bringing down the Treasury 10-year yield. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 were little changed.

Qualcomm, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, fell more than 5% on investor concern that demand for the devices will cool. Ford dropped 6% after warning that US tariffs would weigh on US carmakers’ profits. Skyworks Solutions Inc., a chip supplier to Apple Inc., plunged more than 20% after saying competition in the industry is intensifying. Apple shares also retreated.

Meanwhile, Honeywell International Inc. slid more than 5% after saying it will split into separate publicly traded companies following pressure from an activist investor. 

Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday that when it comes to the Federal Reserve, “I will only talk about what they’ve done, not what I think they should do from now on.” He repeated his view that expanding energy supply will help lower inflation. But some investors said 10-year yields are unlikely to go much lower while sticky prices and a resilient economy damp expectations of further Fed policy easing.

The 10-year Treasury yield ticked about one basis point higher on Thursday, though it’s still close to a one-month low.

“It is difficult to see the 10-year yield come down a lot unless the economy slows significantly,“ said David Zahn, a senior vice president at Franklin Templeton Investment Management. “If that happens, which isn’t what they want, then I can see 10-year yields going lower.”

More earnings are expected today, with Amazon.com Inc. due to release results after the close. 

Meanwhile, data Thursday showed new claims for unemployment insurance rose more than economists’ expectations in the week ended Feb. 1, while labor costs climbed less than expected. The all-important monthly payrolls report tomorrow will shed more light on the resilience of the US jobs market.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 benchmark rose, on track for a record close. Societe Generale SA and AstraZeneca Plc rallied on the back of better-than-expected results. A. P. Moller-Maersk A/S surged almost 9% after announcing a $2 billion buyback. 

UK stocks outperformed and the pound fell after the Bank of England cut interest rates, as expected, and traders added to bets on further easing.

 

Key events this week:

• Fed’s Christopher Waller, Lorie Logan speak, Thursday
• Amazon earnings, Thursday
• US nonfarm payrolls, unemployment, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
• Fed’s Michelle Bowman, Adriana Kugler speak, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 8:35 a.m. New York time
• Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.8%
• The MSCI World Index was little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
• The euro fell 0.4% to $1.0366
• The British pound fell 0.9% to $1.2390
• The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 152.25 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 1.7% to $98,595.51
• Ether rose 0.1% to $2,790.31

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.43%
• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.38%
• Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.43%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $71.43 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.1% to $2,862.97 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Richard Henderson, Winnie Hsu and Chiranjivi Chakraborty.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.