Futures for the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 experienced a notable increase on Thursday, driven by a significant rise in AI-related stocks following an exceptional earnings report from the semiconductor powerhouse Nvidia. In recent trading, futures for the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 experienced gains of 1% and 0.4%, respectively. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 0.1%. Nvidia released better-than-expected second-quarter results after the bell yesterday, and its $108 billion Q3 revenue forecast above Visible Alpha’s analyst consensus. “The AI infrastructure buildout is at full steam,” CEO Jensen Huang stated in prepared remarks.
Nvidia shares surged 7% in premarket trading Thursday, with its results seemingly alleviating investors’ concerns regarding the AI sector. The iShares Semiconductor ETF was up 3% before the bell as components Micron Technology, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, Applied Materials, and Marvell Technology—set to issue its earnings report after the bell today—gained. The Roundhill Memory ETF advanced 3.5%, led by Sandisk, Western Digital, SK Hynix, and Seagate Technology. Aside from Nvidia, however, Tesla was the only other Magnificent Seven mega-cap tech stock to rise before the bell. In other post-earnings movements, Salesforce surged 11% and CrowdStrike Holdings jumped 9%.
Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Burlington Stores, Best Buy, and Hormel were among the notable names reporting results before the bell Thursday. Crude oil prices experienced a modest increase as investors evaluated the recent diplomatic initiatives aimed at completely reopening the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, were near flat at around $82.25 a barrel in recent trading, while Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were 0.5% higher at $88.25. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, a key determinant of interest rates across various consumer loans such as mortgages, was recorded at below 4.68%, reflecting an increase of two basis points from Wednesday’s closing figure.
Bitcoin surpassed the $80,000 mark for the second time this week early Thursday. The world’s largest cryptocurrency recently reached $79,700, an increase from overnight lows around $78,200. The U.S. dollar index, which monitors the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, remained relatively stable at 99.20.Gold futures declined by 0.4%, settling at $4,635 per ounce.
