U.S. stock index futures advanced on Thursday as Nvidia's upbeat earnings and Salesforce's raised guidance offset concerns over slightly higher-than-expected inflation data.
Dow Jones futures rose 0.2%, S&P 500 futures climbed 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.7% by 03:49 Brasília time. The moves followed Nvidia's second-quarter revenue that surpassed Wall Street estimates and a current-quarter sales projection of $108 billion.
Nvidia's CFO Colette Kress also indicated that the company expects revenue growth of 70% in the 2028 fiscal year, a significant increase from the 45% forecast cited by FactSet. Gross margin expectations, however, were revised downward to 71%-72% in the fourth quarter, from 75% in the prior period.
Salesforce reported second-quarter profit and revenue above expectations and raised its full-year sales and profit projections. The company's stock surged more than 13% in extended trading after it announced an expanded partnership with AI startup Anthropic to integrate Anthropic’s plug-ins into Salesforce’s enterprise tools under the "Claudeforce" initiative. A beta version is planned for next month, with selected pilot clients already accessing the service.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang referred to Marvell Technology as the next "trillion-dollar company," noting its stock has risen 174% this year to a market capitalization just under $215 billion. Marvell projected custom chip revenue could exceed $10 billion by 2029.
Oil prices extended declines for a fourth consecutive session, with Brent and WTI crude futures down more than 6% for the week. The drop followed reports of an Iran-Oman agreement on commercial shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, though Tehran cautioned that immediate reopening was not guaranteed. Washington also imposed stricter economic sanctions on Tehran earlier in the week.
Separately, Russian state media claimed a new U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement was imminent, though the report could not be immediately verified.
