U.S. stock futures pointed higher on Thursday as Nvidia’s upbeat revenue guidance reignited investor appetite for artificial intelligence-related equities. Nasdaq 100 E-mini futures climbed 300.25 points, or 1.03%, outpacing gains in broader benchmarks.
The advance followed Nvidia’s forecast for a 70% jump in revenue for its next fiscal year, though the company cautioned that memory component shortages could limit the pace of demand expansion. The chipmaker’s shares rose 7.4% in premarket trading, extending gains after it reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results. AI infrastructure peers also advanced, with Micron Technology, Marvell Technology, and Broadcom gaining 4.2%, 5.2%, and 1.6%, respectively.
Salesforce led gains among large-cap software stocks, surging 11.8% after raising its annual revenue and profit forecasts and unveiling a new plug-in integrating its services with Anthropic’s Claude AI models. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike climbed 8.8% after topping second-quarter earnings estimates and lifting its annual revenue outlook. ServiceNow and Oracle each added about 2%.
The broader market sentiment was supported by data storage firms, with Sandisk and Western Digital gaining 4.9% and 3.4%, respectively. The gains came a day after Wall Street’s major indexes closed little changed ahead of Nvidia’s results. South Korea’s KOSPI closed 1.5% higher on Thursday.
Macroeconomic factors added to the mixed backdrop. Traders priced in a 36% chance of a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike next month, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, after recent inflation data tempered earlier bets on an imminent increase. The probability rose following Wednesday’s slightly hotter-than-expected Personal Consumption Expenditures data. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to deliver his first Jackson Hole address on Friday.
Treasury yields remained elevated amid concerns over rising government debt and inflation pressures linked to geopolitical tensions, including the U.S.-Iran conflict. The Treasury Department’s recent support measures had temporarily eased some of those pressures last week.
