S&P 500, Nasdaq futures slipped on Wednesday, as the broader market continued to pull back.
The difference mostly comes down to how investors are processing the recent volatility in the tech sector and a wave of earnings results.
The Dow Jones futures managed to stay in the green, helped by ongoing optimism around AI-related spending.
That bright spot offered a bit of support, even though there are still plenty of concerns about whether tech stocks have simply run too far, too fast.
This small uptick followed a rough day on Wall Street, where major indexes fell after some disappointing earnings and weaker market participation overall.
5 things to know before Wall Street opens
1. The US government shutdown entered its 36th day on November 5, 2025, making it the longest shutdown in American history.
The stalemate continues between Democrats and Republicans over healthcare spending, with neither side showing signs of compromise.
The shutdown has severely impacted federal programs, including food assistance, and caused flight delays nationwide due to air traffic control shortages.
Around 1.4 million federal employees remain furloughed or working without pay.
Despite this, some bipartisan talks are reportedly ongoing, with Senate Republicans scheduled to meet for discussions.
2. Looking ahead to Wednesday, all eyes are on the ADP private payrolls report for October 2025.
Economists are expecting a small bounce-back, roughly 25,000 new private sector jobs after September’s surprising drop of 32,000.
The numbers are still pretty soft, and they partly reflect how the ongoing US government shutdown has been weighing on the broader job market.
We will also get fresh data on weekly mortgage applications and the ISM services index.
The mortgage numbers should give us a better read on housing demand, while the services index will show how the largest part of the US economy is holding up.
3. Earnings season rolls on, with McDonald’s set to report before the market opens on Wednesday.
At this point, about 360 companies in the S&P 500 have already shared their results, and roughly 82% of them have come in better than expected, according to FactSet.
That’s helped put the index on track for an earnings growth rate of more than 12%, which is a solid showing.
4. Nvidia has officially joined the India Deep Tech Alliance (IDTA) as a founding member and strategic tech advisor, bringing its know-how to help support deep-tech startups across the country.
The alliance launched with a $1 billion fund and has already lined up more than $850 million in additional commitments.
The focus areas are pretty big ones: AI, semiconductors, robotics, and even space tech.
As part of the partnership, Nvidia will offer technical guidance, training programs through its Deep Learning Institute, and input on policy to help shape the ecosystem.
The move ties in with India’s broader $12 billion push to strengthen research and development.
5. Global markets were pretty mixed on Wednesday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped back below the 50,000 mark as investors took profits, especially from tech names that have run up a lot recently.
Over in South Korea, the Kospi dropped more than 2%, with worries growing that AI-related stocks might be getting too expensive.
Europe didn’t escape the mood either. Markets opened lower across the board, with the FTSE, DAX, CAC 40, and Italy’s FTSE MIB all down between about 0.3% and 0.8%.
The weakness was largely tied to the same global tech sell-off, along with a generally cautious tone as investors wait for key economic data releases and more earnings results.
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