U.S. stock futures edge up as Wall Street rallies on Alphabet's surge to record highs

• U.S. stock futures rise slightly amid mixed earnings and trade concerns 

• S&P 500 and Nasdaq achieve record highs, driven by Alphabet's strong performance 

• Wall Street shows caution as tariff deadlines approach and manufacturing data disappoints

U.S. stock index futures experienced a slight uptick on Thursday evening, buoyed by record-high closures on Wall Street following strong earnings reports from Alphabet and optimism surrounding potential trade agreements. 

However, significant declines in stocks such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), IBM (NYSE:IBM), Honeywell (NASDAQ:HON), and UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) tempered overall market gains, as disappointing earnings and forecasts from these companies created downward pressure. Notably, Tesla dropped 8% after CEO Elon Musk hinted at challenging quarters ahead. 

Concerns over President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline on August 1 and disappointing manufacturing activity data also contributed to market caution. 

• by 19:34 ET (23:34 GMT), S&P 500 Futures inched up 0.1% to 6,408.0 points 

• Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.1% to 23,393.0 points 

• Dow Jones Futures also increased 0.1% to 44,947.0 points 

In aftermarket trading, Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARAA) gained 1.4% following the Federal Communications Commission's approval of its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq achieved record highs, driven by strong gains in Alphabet Inc (LON:0RIH), which surpassed expectations for its second-quarter earnings and indicated ongoing investments in artificial intelligence. 

Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) robust earnings and optimistic guidance boosted other AI-related stocks, including NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), which rose 1.8% amid expectations of sustained chip demand. 

The AI sector also received a lift from President Trump’s signing of three executive orders to promote the industry, complementing a detailed 90-part plan for AI advancement in the U.S. 

• The S&P 500 climbed 0.1% to reach a record 6,363.39 points 

• the NASDAQ Composite grew 0.2% to a new high of 21,957.96 points 

In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 0.7% to 44,694.09 points, largely due to losses in IBM, Honeywell, and UnitedHealth. 

Tesla experienced a significant drop of over 8% following disappointing second-quarter earnings that revealed ongoing declines in car sales. 

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) fell 3.7% and continued to drop another 4.5% in aftermarket trading after projecting a larger-than-expected third-quarter loss, despite anticipating increased revenue. The company's latest cost-cutting efforts, which involve additional layoffs, also failed to impress.

Wall Street recently celebrated a string of record highs; however, this week's performance showed a slowdown as caution persists regarding President Trump's trade tariffs. Investors are awaiting announcements of additional trade deals, with only a week remaining before the August 1 deadline for tariff implementation. 

Earlier in the week, Trump's trade agreement with Japan briefly propelled the market upward. Nonetheless, Thursday's release of weaker-than-expected manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) data raised red flags about the U.S. economy. The report revealed an unexpected contraction in manufacturing activity for July, suggesting that pre-tariff momentum has faded. Despite this, overall business activity continued to expand, buoyed by a robust performance in the services PMI.