Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures climb amid Apple CEO change and Iran uncertainty

Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq futures rose as investors weighed the implications of Apple's leadership transition alongside escalating geopolitical tensions involving Iran. The market advance reflects a temporary tilt in risk appetite, with technology stocks like Apple benefiting from optimism around innovation continuity despite the CEO change, while broader equity gains suggest traders are discounting immediate escalation risks in the Middle East. This dynamic is primarily driven by shifts in risk sentiment and sector-specific leadership reassessment, with Nasdaq futures outperforming due to Apple's weight in the index. Iranian oil supply disruption fears remain contained for now, limiting spillover into energy markets and global growth expectations. Traders will focus on the next U.S. CPI inflation report as the key near-term catalyst for reassessing whether risk-on momentum can be sustained amid tightening financial conditions.

The Nasdaq-100 (NDX) is the US large-cap tech benchmark. NDX is more sensitive to rate decisions than SPX because of longer-duration cash flows, and heavily concentrated in Tech/Comms names — mega-cap earnings season dominates price action.

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