Stocks Gain Pre-Bell as Traders Assess Big-Tech Earnings, Fed Rate Pause, Powell's Remarks

07:21 AM EST, 01/29/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets were tracking in the green before the opening bell Thursday as traders digest the latest financial results of some of the biggest technology companies and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's post-policy meeting comments.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.5% and the Nasdaq edged up 0.1% in premarket activity. The indexes finished the previous trading session mixed, with the Nasdaq extending its winning streak to a sixth day.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) dropped 7.4% pre-bell after revenue growth in the company's cloud-computing platform, Azure, fell short of investor expectations. Meta Platforms (META) jumped 8.3% as the Facebook and WhatsApp parent issued a first-quarter revenue outlook above Wall Street's estimates and reported stronger-than-expected results for the prior three-month period.

Electric vehicle giant Tesla's (TSLA) stock inclined 2.9% after delivering better-than-projected fourth-quarter results. Chief Executive Elon Musk reportedly said during an earnings conference call that the automaker will end production of its Model S and Model X vehicles.

International Business Machines (IBM) climbed 9.3% following its latest quarterly results.

On Wednesday, the Fed held interest rates steady at its first policy meeting of the year, saying there have been "some signs of stabilization" in the unemployment rate. It delivered three back-to-back 25-basis-point cuts last year amid concerns about the labor market.

Powell, whose term as Fed chair ends in May, said the economy "expanded at a solid pace last year and is coming into 2026 on a firm footing," although inflation "remains somewhat elevated," according to his opening statement to reporters.

Treasury yields were down premarket, with the two-year rate retreating 1 basis point to 3.57% and the 10-year rate decreasing 0.2 basis points to 4.25%.

Mastercard (MA) , Caterpillar (CAT) , Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) , Honeywell International (HON) , Lockheed Martin (LMT) , Blackstone (BX), Sherwin-Williams (SHW) , Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) , L3Harris Technologies (LHX) , Dover (DOV) and Dow (DOW) report their earnings before the bell, among others

iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) and payments giant Visa (V) are scheduled to release their results after the markets close.

Thursday's economic calendar has the delayed international trade in goods and services report for November and the weekly jobless claims bulletin at 8:30 am ET, each.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 2.6% to $64.87 a barrel before the open after President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Iran of an attack "far worse" than last year's strikes as he pushed Tehran to reach a nuclear deal. In a social media post, Trump said a "massive armada" was headed to the country, representing a larger fleet than the one sent to Venezuela.

Gold rose 3.8% to $5,504 per troy ounce, as a weak US dollar added support to the yellow metal. Bitcoin dropped 1.7% to $87,674.

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