(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures jumped on Thursday after Nvidia’s stellar results quelled some concerns around an AI bubble, boosting technology stocks, while a long-awaited jobs report was also in focus.
Nvidia surged 5.5% in premarket trading after the world’s most valuable company forecast sales above analysts’ estimates for the current three months after surpassing expectations for third-quarter revenue.
CEO Jensen Huang shrugged off concerns about an AI bubble on a call with analysts, saying, “We see something very different.”
A year-long rally in high-flying technology stocks had begun to lose some steam as investors became increasingly cautious of a potential AI bubble.
HSBC analysts wrote in a note that Nvidia’s earnings “should inject confidence back into the AI narrative.”
Rival Advanced Micro Devices climbed 5.4%, while other chip-related stocks, including Broadcom and Marvell Technology, also recorded strong gains.
Most megacap and growth stocks advanced, with Alphabet up 2% and Microsoft gaining 1.1%.
At 04:06 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 263 points, or 0.57%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 82.75 points, or 1.24%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 414.25 points, or 1.68%.
All eyes will be on retail giant Walmart’s earnings, whose numbers will be parsed to feel the pulse of the American consumer and the health of the overall economy. The company reports premarket.
JOBS DATA IS BACK
The long-delayed jobs report is expected to show that growth likely picked up moderately in September, while the unemployment rate held steady near a four-year high of 4.3%. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday it would not be publishing the closely watched employment report for October, but would combine nonfarm payrolls for that month with November’s report after the recently ended government shutdown prevented the collection of data for the household survey.
The report is expected to confirm the significant loss of momentum in the labor market this year.
The data comes a day after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed a divided committee on whether to cut interest rates.
Traders are now seeing a 34% chance of a December rate cut, down from about 50% seen a day prior, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
At least five Fed officials are set to speak on Thursday.
Among premarket movers, Palo Alto Networks dipped 3.9% after the cybersecurity firm said it would buy cloud management and monitoring company Chronosphere for $3.35 billion.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
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