The Fear & Greed Index published by Leverage Shares has vaulted from an extremely fearful reading of 14 to 69 in the span of just three weeks, a dramatic recovery that has carried investor psychology from near-panic into Greed territory. The S&P 500 has demonstrated this shift in sentiment, closing at fresh all-time highs and adding roughly $600 billion in market capitalization along the way.
Thursday, however, isn’t bearing out that momentum. Markets are stuck in the doldrums as fresh Mideast uncertainty keeps a lid on sentiment.
Anthropic has rocketed to a reported $1 trillion valuation on secondary markets, a figure that would have been dismissed as fantasy earlier this year, as buyers compete for a shrinking pool of available shares, with some sellers reportedly holding out for as much as $1.15 trillion. The surge has flipped the script on OpenAI, which carries an $852 billion valuation.
Oklo (OKLO) is in focus Thursday after the nuclear energy company formalized a three-way partnership with NVIDIA (NVDA) and Los Alamos National Laboratory aimed at accelerating the buildout of next-generation nuclear infrastructure. The collaboration will weave together advanced reactor technology, artificial intelligence, digital twin modeling, and simulation tools to support both critical infrastructure development and faster deployment of commercial nuclear power. Early technical priorities center on AI-driven physics and chemistry models for plutonium fuel validation, materials science R&D, and grid stability studies — all in service of powering NVIDIA’s AI factories at the lab.
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The Nasdaq Composite is giving back ground Thursday morning after logging a record-setting finish in the prior session, with futures slipping as Wall Street processes a busy earnings slate, a modest uptick in weekly jobless claims, and a mixed overnight reaction to Tesla’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) quarterly results. Despite the pullback, the Nasdaq Composite has added approximately 2% over the past five sessions and remains in the green year-to-date, up roughly 5.7%.
Renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz are casting a shadow over all three major averages. President Trump has put the Navy on standing orders to engage any vessel caught mining the waterway, and the Pentagon has backed that posture with action, releasing footage of troops rappelling onto the Majestic X, a sanctioned tanker allegedly transporting Iranian crude. Iran countered Wednesday by seizing commercial vessels passing through the strait. With Tehran’s lead negotiator ruling out any reopening while the U.S. blockade persists, diplomats are scrambling to arrange talks by as early as Friday.
Here’s a look at where things stand as of morning trading:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 49,428 Down 0.12%
Nasdaq Composite: 24,551 Down 0.43%
S&P 500: 7,129 Down 0.12%
Netflix (NFLX) is among the morning’s brighter spots, edging up more than 1% in premarket trade after the company unveiled a $25 billion share repurchase authorization, the largest buyback commitment in its history. The announcement comes after a difficult stretch; shares have tumbled 13% since the April 16 earnings release disappointed on revenue and EPS. With analyst price targets still clustered near $114, the buyback suggests management sees the current valuation as a buying opportunity.
Tesla (TSLA) is a trickier picture. The company cleared the Q1 bar, non-GAAP EPS of $0.41 on $22.39 billion in revenue, with auto gross margins recovering to 21%. But Elon Musk’s pledge to dramatically ramp capital expenditures for AI and robotics spooked investors. Shares surrendered roughly 3% after hours, and retail sentiment has tilted bearish overnight.
Chips and Claims
Semiconductor stocks remain a pillar of support, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) extending its record winning streak to 16 consecutive sessions. NVIDIA continues to trade near $203. On the macro front, initial jobless claims came in at 214,000, slightly above the 211,000 consensus but not enough to meaningfully shift the Fed narrative. The VIX hovering near 20 signals awareness rather than alarm. Intel’s after-the-bell report is the next major catalyst to watch.
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Gerelyn Terzo is the author of dividend investing handbook "Dividend Investing Strategies: How to Have Your Cake & Eat It Too." A veteran financial journalist, she covers agri-finance for outlets like Global AgInvesting and the broader stock market and personal finance for 24/7 Wall Street. She began at CNBC and later helped launch Fox Business in New York. Gerelyn currently resides in Woodland Park, Colorado and dabbles in nature photography as a hobby.
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