Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures pop after Nvidia’s earnings beat with jobs report on deck
US stock futures climbed on Thursday as blockbuster (NVDA) earnings helped rekindle faith in the AI trade by easing bubble fears, while hopes for a December interest-rate cut faded further.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) led the way higher, with futures rising roughly 1.5%. while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) were up about 1%. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), which includes fewer tech stocks, rose 0.5%.
Nvidia stock surged more than 5% in premarket trading after the chipmaker delivered an earnings beat and issued a stronger-than-expected revenue outlook for the fourth quarter. CEO Jensen Huang said demand for the company’s Blackwell processors is “off the charts,” easing concern that the recent cooldown in AI-linked stocks signaled a longer-term slowdown.
The upbeat market reaction followed a modest rebound on Wednesday, which saw the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Dow (^DJI) both break a four-day losing streak. Despite the bounce, the major US indexes remain in negative territory for the week amid a broader pullback in growth stocks.
Elsewhere in earnings, Walmart (WMT) raised its full-year forecasts after it beat on profit and sales in the third quarter. Its shares slipped slightly as investors assessed the big-box retailer’s report, seen as a window into the strength of the consumer heading into the holiday season.
Investors will turn next to Thursday morning’s September nonfarm-payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which had its release pushed back due to the federal government shutdown.
Eyes are on the monthly jobs report as the first major insight into the US economy since the stoppage, which left Wall Street flying blind in trying to gauge the odds of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. It’s come into even higher focus since the the BLS canceled the October edition and moved the November update back to Dec. 16.
Economists expect around 50,000 were added in September, compared with August’s gain of 22,000. The unemployment rate is seen as holding steady on the month at 4.3%, when the report is released at 8;30 a.m. ET.
Minutes from the Fed’s October meeting showed policymakers have “strongly differing views” over whether a cooling labor market or stubborn inflation poses the greater risk to the economy. The divide fed uncertainty over the central bank’s December decision, with a number of officials signaling no further rate cuts ahead.
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