Nasdaq futures jump as Nvidia earnings lift chip stocks

Nasdaq-100 futures were higher Thursday as the latest earnings reports from Nvidia and other well-known technology companies boosted sentiment. Futures tied to the tech-heavy index rose 0.9%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded down 86 points, or 0.2%. Nvidia shares jumped 6% in premarket trading on Thursday after it beat analyst expectations and forecast strong revenue growth. Notably, the chipmaker is projected to see revenue growth hit 70% in fiscal 2028, far higher than the 44% that analysts surveyed by LSEG expected. Its revenue for the fiscal second quarter more than doubled. Nvidia stands to break its recent pattern of seeing stock declines despite posting stronger-than-anticipated reports. “We retain our conviction in the broader AI growth story and believe it remains a key driver of our positive market outlook,” a team at UBS led by Global Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele said in a Thursday morning note. “While ongoing concerns over the sustainability of AI capex and the circularity of certain AI financing deals may continue to inject periodic tech volatility, the second-quarter earnings season has shown that the fundamentals remain robust,” they added. More broadly, shares linked to the semiconductor sector rallied in pre-market trading, with Marvell Technology adding almost 4% and Micron Technology and Arm up more than 3%. Salesforce rallied 10% in premarket trading after revenue came in ahead of Wall Street’s forecast for the second quarter. Okta soared more than 17% ahead of Thursday’s regular session after surpassing analyst expectations and reporting booming demand due to agentic AI. The three major indexes finished Wednesday’s session little changed. In addition to the raft of earnings, traders are readying for the start of the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, kicking off Thursday. Treasury yields were little changed on Thursday as investors geared up for the start of the Federal Reserve’s closely watched annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, the first under Chair Kevin Warsh. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was less than 1 basis point lower at 4.662%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield was flat at 5.185%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury note nudged less than a basis point lower to 4.222%. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.20% lower, while South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.53%. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.98%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 closed 0.86% higher. Oil prices rose on Thursday after falling earlier in the session as investors weighed prospects ​for progress in reopening the Strait ​of Hormuz and broader ​Middle East supply risks. Brent crude futures were up 51 cents, or 0.58%, to $88.35 a barrel at 1005 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 18 cents, or 0.22%, to $82.41. Earlier in the session, Brent fell ⁠as low ‌as $86.22 a barrel, and WTI dropped to $80.65. “If Hormuz were to ⁠reopen more fully, a further leg lower in crude is possible, but the market is unlikely to price a complete return to pre-conflict levels overnight,” KCM chief market analyst Tim Waterer said. Gold prices ticked up on Thursday, drawing support from persistent dollar debasement concerns as markets weighed ​the prospect of ​fresh policy signals from Federal ​Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the annual Jackson Hole symposium on Friday. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $4,599.57 per ounce by 0852 GMT, after settling 1.4% lower on ⁠Wednesday ‌in its biggest one-day decline in a week. ⁠U.S. gold futures were steady at $4,652.70. “Despite slightly higher U.S. inflation data yesterday, global debt concerns continue to support demand for the yellow metal,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. Gold prices hit an ‌over three-month high earlier this week, with the recent rally driven by renewed dollar-debasement concerns following the U.S. Treasury’s move last week to ​ramp up buybacks of older long-dated bonds.