By JBizNews Desk
NEW YORK — April 30, 2026
Nasdaq futures ticked higher in after-hours trading Wednesday night, buoyed by a string of better-than-expected earnings from four Magnificent Seven tech giants, even as Brent crude surged past $121 a barrel on escalating fears of a prolonged Middle East conflict that has choked global oil supply to historic lows.
The Nasdaq Composite closed the regular session essentially flat, inching up 0.04% to finish at 24,673.24, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 280 points, or 0.57%, to 48,861.81 — its fifth consecutive losing day. The S&P 500 slipped 0.04% to close at 7,135.95. After the closing bell, Nasdaq futures rose 0.35%, while S&P 500 futures edged up 0.10%. Dow futures remained in negative territory, down 0.43%.
The after-hours lift came courtesy of a pivotal earnings window. Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), and Microsoft (MSFT) all reported quarterly earnings after the bell. All four beat analyst expectations. Alphabet and Amazon gained in after-hours trading, while Meta and Microsoft fell. Alphabet soared after impressive Google Cloud revenue reassured investors that its artificial intelligence investments would pay off. Meta tumbled on concerns that it was overspending.
Chris Brigati, chief investment officer at SWBC, said the market’s focus was squarely on forward guidance rather than headline beats. “Each company faces its own dynamics, but delivering tangible results from elevated capex remains the critical test,” he said.
Illustrative news graphic of Brent crude oil price surging past $121 per barrel, dramatic upward red line chart with price markers, oil tanker silhouette in the background, Middle East map overlay highlighting Strait of Hormuz in red, glowing energy price alerts, professional financial news style with dark red and orange tones, high-resolution“portrait”
During the regular session, stocks were held in check by a pair of market-moving events that dominated investor attention: the Federal Reserve’s rate decision and surging oil prices driven by the U.S.-Iran conflict.
Brent crude jumped roughly 8% on Wednesday to around $120 per barrel. After the session closed, prices pushed even higher. Brent June futures rose more than 3% further in overnight trading to $121.65 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate added 2% to $109.03.
The catalyst was blunt: President Donald Trump said the U.S. will maintain its naval blockade against Iran until the country agrees to a nuclear deal. “The blockade is somewhat more effective than the bombing,” Trump told Axios. “They are choking like a stuffed pig, and it is going to be worse for them. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has halted roughly 20% of global oil shipments, which the International Energy Agency called the largest supply shock on record. Compounding the tightening, the United Arab Emirates announced its exit from OPEC next month, seeking greater flexibility in adapting to shifting market conditions.
Goldman Sachs estimates that exports through the Hormuz chokepoint have fallen to just 4% of normal levels. The bank’s analysts noted that constrained Iranian exports and limited storage capacity could deepen supply disruptions if the blockade persists, and that any production boost from the UAE following its OPEC exit is likely to materialize more gradually over the medium term rather than offsetting near-term tightness. The bank also flagged emerging downside risks to demand, noting global oil consumption in April may be approximately 3.6 million barrels per day lower than February levels, with weakness concentrated in jet fuel and petrochemical feedstocks.
The surge in energy prices is amplifying concerns about inflation — and directly complicating the picture for monetary policy. Analysts expect headline PCE to rise approximately 0.6% in March due to energy inflation. The CME FedWatch tool showed odds of any rate cut at all this year at just 15% as of Wednesday morning. The Fed held rates unchanged for a third straight meeting, with four FOMC members casting dissenting votes — the most since October 1992.
Seagate led gains in chips and AI-related stocks, climbing 18% in early trading on its earnings results and lifting other memory chip stocks including Western Digital (WDC) and Micron (MU). Seagate raised its annual revenue growth target amid strong AI-related demand. NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) soared 15% on solid quarterly results that surpassed analyst estimates. Starbucks (SBUX) climbed nearly 5% after the coffee chain beat analysts’ consensus for earnings and revenue and said it sees fiscal 2026 earnings above levels expected by Wall Street.
On the downside, Robinhood Markets (HOOD) tumbled more than 10% after the fintech company missed Wall Street expectations for its first-quarter 2026 earnings and revenue, driven by a 47% drop in crypto trading fees. Enphase Energy (ENPH) fell 7.2% on weak second-quarter guidance, lower-than-expected U.S. residential demand, and narrowing gross margins.
With Apple (AAPL) set to report Thursday and PCE and first-quarter GDP data also due in the morning, traders will have little time to catch their breath.
— JBizNews Desk
© JBizNews.com. All rights reserved. This article is original reporting by JBizNews Desk. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution is strictly prohibited.
