Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose Thursday, as investors cheered strong second-quarter results from chipmaker Nvidia, which appeared to fuel even more excitement around artificial intelligence. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.4% while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average struggled, shedding 0.2%. Nvidia shares popped 8% after the company reported quarterly earnings and revenue that exceeded lofty analyst expectations. The company also raised its guidance, with executives predicting third-quarter revenue would climb to $16 billion, or a year-over-year increase of 170%. This marks the second straight quarterly report from Nvidia that blows away expectations. The first-quarter numbers, released in May, helped stoke investor interest in artificial intelligence, which became a key market driver in the first half of the year. Interest in the chip stock catapulted its value to more than $1 trillion. “The entire tech sector and overall market was waiting for Nvidia with this being the purest and best barometer for AI demand and the results/guidance were a ‘drop the mic’ moment in our opinion that will have a ripple impact for the tech space for the rest of the year,” said Dan Ives, senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities. Other chipmakers got a boost from the report. Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor added 3.1%, while AMD climbed 2.3%. Marvell Technology gained 4.6%. Investors also await comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, which Wall Street hopes will provide insight toward the path of benchmark interest rates. U.S. Treasury yields were mixed on Thursday as investors await signals on monetary policy from central bankers at the upcoming Jackson Hole meeting. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was up around 2 basis points at 4.215%, after hitting a 16-year high on Monday. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond climbed less than 1 basis point to 4.288%. At the shorter end of the curve, yields were slightly higher. Asia-Pacific markets rose on Thursday, with Hong Kong stocks leading regional gains. The Hang Seng index climbed 1.93% in its final hour, while mainland Chinese markets were also up, with the CSI 300 gaining 0.72% and closing at 3,723.43. South Korea’s central bank left rates unchanged at 3.5%, while Indonesia is expected to hold its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 5.75%. South Korea’s producer price index climbed 0.2% year-on-year, the 13th straight month that growth in the PPI has slowed. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.87% up to close at 32,287.21, while the Topix climbed 0.43% to end at 2,286.59 on Thursday. Both indexes saw a fourth straight day of gains. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.47% and finished at 7,182.1, marking a three day winning streak. South Korea’s Kospi rebounded and closed higher by 1.28% at 2,537.68, and the Kosdaq was up 2.14% to close at 901.74. Oil prices steadied after earlier declines on Thursday caused by disappointing economic data from key economies, with investors awaiting a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday for clues on interest rate moves. Brent crude climbed 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $83.48 a barrel, after dropping to $82.57 earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $79.11 a barrel, after falling to $78.22. Gold prices jumped 1% to a near two-week high on Wednesday, helped by a pullback in U.S. bond yields and the dollar as investors looked ahead to the Jackson Hole symposium for guidance on interest rates. Spot gold rose 1% to $1,916.20 per ounce after hitting its highest since Aug. 11. It was also poised to register its biggest daily percentage rise in over a month. U.S. gold futures settled 1.1% higher at $1,948.10.