Nasdaq leads stocks higher in final hour as investors await Meta, Tesla earnings

The Nasdaq led U.S. equities higher during the final hour of trading, with gains concentrated in large-cap technology names as investors positioned ahead of upcoming quarterly reports from Meta and Tesla. The move reflects a risk-appetite channel, where traders rotate into growth-sensitive megacaps when the earnings calendar offers a near-term narrative of profit resilience and capital spending visibility. The Nasdaq-100 (NDX) is most exposed given its heavy weighting in mega-cap technology, while Meta (META) and Tesla (TSLA) carry the largest single-stock event risk because their results can reset expectations for advertising demand, AI infrastructure spending, and electric vehicle margins. Traders will watch the after-hours reactions from both companies' guidance commentary, particularly any updated capital expenditure outlook, as the next concrete read on whether the late-session strength in index-level technology can be sustained.

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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