S&P 500 and Dow Futures Edge Higher as AMD's 8% Drop Drags on Nasdaq
N.R. Finch
On Aug 5 pre-market, Middle East peace-talk hopes lifted S&P and Dow futures, but AMD fell 8.1% and SpaceX dropped 10% after hours — pulling Nasdaq 100 futures into the red as markets begin stress-testing tech valuations after a run of record highs.
Why are the three index futures diverging?
S&P 500 futures rose 0.25% and Dow futures gained 0.21%, buoyed by Middle East peace-talk expectations.
Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.07%, dragged down by AMD and SpaceX's after-hours sell-offs.
This means → the broad market leans positive, but heavyweight tech losses are enough to tip the Nasdaq underwater.
AMD beat expectations — so why did the stock plunge?
AMD guided quarterly revenue above consensus, signaling strong AI demand.
Yet the stock fell 8.1% pre-market — after rallying 142% year-to-date, the Street deemed the guidance "not good enough" to justify the current valuation.
In plain terms = the problem is not bad results; the stock ran too far ahead, and the good news was already priced in.
SpaceX posted strong numbers — why are investors selling?
Revenue nearly doubled and operating losses narrowed — the headline figures were solid.
But management flagged that heavy capital spending will continue, and the post-IPO lock-up begins expiring Thursday, raising the specter of selling pressure.
The stock dropped 10% pre-market; Tesla, also under Elon Musk, fell 0.8% in sympathy.
This means → the market's concern is not whether SpaceX can make money, but the near-term combination of "spending stays high + early investors can now sell."
Within tech, who is winning and who is losing?
Nvidia bucked the trend, rising 1.9% — partly because SpaceX announced it will exclusively use Nvidia hardware for its data centers.
Intel and Micron each fell 1.5%; Microsoft and Alphabet were roughly flat.
SpaceX's push into mobile telecom pressured carriers: Verizon and AT&T each dropped over 2%, T-Mobile fell 0.8%.
This reflects a rotation, not a blanket tech sell-off — capital is switching fast between winners and losers.
What macro signals should investors watch today?
Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid said some degree of further tightening is needed to bring "too high" inflation back to the 2% target.
CME FedWatch shows traders pricing a 58.4% probability of a September rate hike.
A data-heavy day ahead: July ADP private payrolls at 8:15 a.m. ET, services PMI at 10:00, and the official nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.
In plain terms = Fed officials are still sending hawkish signals; if employment data comes in strong, rate-hike expectations will climb further.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.