U.S. stock futures rallied early on Thursday as Nvidia led the tech sector higher
How are stock-index futures trading
- S&P 500 futures ES00, +0.38% rose 22 points, or 0.5% to 4021
- Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, +0.23% gained 106 points, or 0.3% to 33185
- Nasdaq 100 futures NQ00, +0.70% climbed 115 points, or 1% to 12212
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.26% fell 85 points, or 0.26%, to 33045, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.16% declined 6 points, or 0.16%, to 3991, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.13% gained 15 points, or 0.13%, to 11507.
The Nasdaq Composite is up 9.9% so far in 2023, but remains down 28.3% from its record high seen in November 2021.
What’s driving markets
U.S. stocks are striving to break a four-day losing streak as the technology sector welcomes a bounce in shares of Nvidia NVDA, +0.48% following the graphics-chip specialist’s well-received results.
“U.S. equity futures are in the positive this morning, with Nasdaq futures leading gains at the time of writing,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank in a morning note.
“The tech-heavy index is certainly boosted by an almost 9% jump in Nvidia shares in the afterhours trading, after the company announced soft, but better-than- expected results. The gaming revenue collapsed by nearly 50%, but the data center revenue increased 11%, and that segment includes the … AI chips!” she added.
Still, the S&P 500 remains stuck in a range between 3,800 and 4,200 that it has inhabited for about three months.
Wall Street’s early 2023 rally has faded in recent sessions as investors become more concerned that robust economic data of late will encourage the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer, as it tries to crush inflation that continues to run at three times its 2% target.
Minutes of the Fed’s previous meeting, released on Wednesday, showed little sign the central bank’s determination was wavering.
However, 2-year U.S. government bond yields TMUBMUSD02Y, 4.707%, which are particularly sensitive to Fed policy, and which earlier this week flirted with their highest level since 2007, were a touch softer on Thursday, helping underpin equity futures.
U.S. economic updates set for release on Thursday include the weekly initial jobless claims report and the first revision of fourth-quarter gross domestic product, both due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic is due to speak at 10:50 a.m. and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will make comments at 2 p.m.