Pre-market briefing Pre-Market Briefing for April 28, 2026
Today at a Glance
Market Mood
Heading into the U.S. open, the futures market is trading roughly flat to slightly lower. S&P 500 futures are down 0.15% and Nasdaq futures are off 0.46%, while Dow futures are up 0.21%, producing a mixed tape. With both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq having set fresh record highs in the prior session, short-term profit-taking pressure has been building, and a wait-and-see tone is prevailing ahead of this week's big-tech earnings deluge. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 1.38% to 60,537, marking a new all-time high, and South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.15% to a record 6,615, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.24%.
Today's Events
Today is a heavy earnings day, with the big-tech reporting season officially getting underway.
After Monday's close, Nucor ($NUE) reported EPS of $3.23 and revenue of $9.5 billion, beating consensus by a wide margin and raising its Q2 guidance, sending a positive signal for the steel sector. Cadence Design Systems ($CDNS) and Public Storage ($PSA) also reported at the same time.
Yesterday's Recap
On Monday, New York equities drifted higher ahead of this week's big-tech earnings barrage: the S&P 500 added 0.12% to a record 7,173.91, and the Nasdaq gained 0.20% to a fresh all-time high of 24,887.10. The Dow dipped 0.13% to 49,167.79, ending slightly weaker. The Fear & Greed Index sits at 67 (Greed), indicating an even stronger risk-on stance. Memory-related names ($SNDK +8.1%, $MU +5.6%, $NVDA +4.0%) led the upside, while $ARM (-8.1%) and $AMD (-3.8%) — both in the semiconductor equipment and design space — saw profit-taking-driven declines.
Stocks in Focus
Based on technical signals, two themes stand out for today's session.
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