Stock Market Today: Dow Jones Futures Fall, S&P 500 Gains As Trump Takes Big Tech Leaders To China—Nvidia, Nextpower, Red Cat In Focus

U.S. stock futures were mixed on Wednesday after Monday’s mostly lower close. Dow Jones futures fell, whereas S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices were rising.

This follows President Donald Trump‘s visit to China along with Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, Tesla Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Elon Musk, Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Tim Cook, BlackRock Inc.‘s (NYSE:BLK) Larry Fink, and Qualcomm Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:QCOM) Cristiano Amon.

Before leaving, Trump said on Tuesday that Americans' financial struggles are not a factor in his decision-making as he seeks to negotiate an end to the Iran war, saying ​that preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is his top priority, reported Reuters.

Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.46%, and the two-year bond was at 3.99%. The CME Group's FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 97.6% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged during June’s meeting.

Index	Performance (+/-)
Dow Jones	-0.18%
S&P 500	0.25%
Nasdaq 100	0.76%
Russell 2000	0.29%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, respectively, were higher in premarket on Wednesday. The SPY was up 0.21% at $739.76, while the QQQ was higher 0.73% to $712.37.

Stocks In Focus

Nextpower

• Nextpower Inc. (NASDAQ:NXT) soared 13.78% in premarket on Wednesday after it announced better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and raised its FY27 sales guidance. The company announced it will acquire assets of Zigor Corporation's power conversion business and its U.S.-based subsidiary, Apex Power.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that NXT maintains a strong price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value score.

MaxCyte

• MaxCyte Inc. (NASDAQ:MXCT) shares jumped 11.88% after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter financial results

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MXCT maintains a strong price trend in the short term but a weak trend in the long and medium terms.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) was 1.09% higher after raising its dividends following record profits as AI chip demand drives massive expansion.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that TSM maintains a strong price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid growth score.

Red Cat Holdings

• Red Cat Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:RCAT) plunged 10.24% after it priced a $225 million public offering at $9.40 per share.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that RCAT maintains a weak price trend in the short, medium, and long terms.

Cisco Systems

• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) was 0.06% higher as analysts expect it to report earnings of $1.03 per share on revenue of $15.56 billion, after the closing bell.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that CSCO maintains a strong price trend in the long, medium, short terms, with a poor value ranking.

Cues From Last Session

Health care, consumer staples, financials, energy, utilities, real estate, and communication services sectors advanced on Tuesday, whereas consumer discretionary, information technology, industrials and materials sectors declined.

Index	Performance (+/-)	Value
Dow Jones	0.11%	49,760.56
S&P 500	-0.16%	7,400.96
Nasdaq Composite	-0.71%	26,088.20
Russell 2000	-0.97%	2,842.83

Insights From Analysts

Professor Jeremy Siegel maintains an optimistic outlook for the U.S. stock market and economy, driven by resilient labor data and the overwhelming momentum of artificial intelligence (AI).

He notes that recent payroll reports show “broad private-sector strength,” which, coupled with steady unemployment, means the Federal Reserve “cannot justify aggressive easing with this level of employment strength.” Consequently, Siegel expects the 10-year Treasury yield to settle in “a 4.5% to 5% range.”

Despite geopolitical fragility and oil price volatility, Siegel believes the U.S. economy is well-cushioned. He highlights that “energy intensity has fallen nearly 70% over the last half century,” insulating growth from energy shocks.

For the stock market, the AI boom remains the dominant narrative. He observes that “the AI trade continues to overwhelm the oil concern,” with tech earnings significantly exceeding expectations.

While S&P 500 valuations are slightly elevated at 21 to 22 times forward earnings, Siegel points out that “once the Magnificent Seven are excluded, valuations fall below 20 times,” a level he considers a reasonable long-term anchor.

Ultimately, with improving corporate guidance and moderating inflation, Siegel concludes that overall market “trends remain positive.”

Upcoming Economic Data

Here's what investors will be keeping an eye on Wednesday.

• April’s producer price index, core PPI, and year-over-year PPI data will be released by 8:30 a.m. ET.
• Boston Fed President Susan Collins will deliver a speech at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Commodities, Crypto, And Global Equity Markets

Crude oil futures were trading lower in the early New York session by 0.36% to hover around $101.81 per barrel.

Gold Spot US Dollar fell 0.36% to hover around $4,698.19 per ounce. Its last record high stood at $5,595.46 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.31% higher at the 98.2540 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading 0.51% higher at $81,225.56 per coin, as per the last 24 hours.

Asian markets closed higher on Wednesday, except Australia's ASX 200 index. Japan's Nikkei 225, India’s Nifty 50, South Korea's Kospi, China’s CSI 300, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng indices rose. European markets were mostly higher in early trade.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.