US stock market investors are playing the waiting game. Markets are trading flat for a few weeks now as investors await further news from the US Fed and macroeconomic data. More than the FOMC rate hike decision taking place on May 3, markets are waiting for Fed chief Powell’s post-meeting commentary.

On Wednesday, the Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.47% during regular trading, while the Dow and S&P 500 declined by 0.68% and 0.38 respectively. And, today on Thursday, the Nasdaq 100 futures is up by 0.5%, helped by Meta Platforms, which soared 12% in pre-market trading after Facebook surpassed revenue projections for the first quarter and provided positive guidance for the current quarter. Other social media behemoths, such as Snap and Pinterest, were also trading strongly in the green. The equity futures for the Dow and S&P 500 both rose by 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

Microsoft, on Wednesday, increased 7.2% on results that exceeded expectations. First Republic Bank, on the other hand, fell another 29.8% after Bloomberg reported that the lender was considering selling up to $100 billion worth of assets as part of a rescue plan, rekindling concerns about the US banking industry.

On Thursday, a number of companies, including Amazon, Intel, and Eli Lilly, will release their financial results. Additionally, investors anticipate information on the US first-quarter GDP, weekly jobless claims, and pending home sales.

First Republic Bank is higher by 4.39% in the pre-market session today.

Top gainers on Nasdaq 100: ( Before market opening on April 27)

Meta Platforms Inc META: +11.23%

Amazon.com Inc AMZN: +2.59%

Some of the top movers in the pre-market session on Thursday include:

Top Gainers

Evelo Biosciences EVLO : +88.20%

Atomera Inc ATOM : +34.67%

OpGen Inc OPGN : +25.30%

U Power Ltd UCAR : +14.99%

Getaround Inc GETR :+9.74%

Healthcare Triangl. HCTI : +13.08%

Seres Therapeutics. MCRB : +12.97%

Virios VIRI: +8.60%

Top Losers

Baudax Bio Inc BXRX: -48.59%

ETAO International ETAO:-14.41%

NETGEAR Inc NTGR: -13.79%

Wolfspeed Inc WOLF:-14.01%

Vornado VNO: -16.01%

In8bio Inc INAB: -11.79%

Clearmind Medicine CMND: -10.73%

Premarket trading is a stock market activity that occurs before the market opens at 9:30 a.m. EST. Premarket trading normally occurs between 8 a.m. EST and 9:30 a.m. EST, although some brokers may allow investors to begin placing orders as early as 4 a.m.