Stock futures moved higher Thursday after a federal court struck down most of the Trump administration’s tariffs, while the technology sector rallied following a strong earnings report from AI chipmaker Nvidia.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq were recently up 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures tacked on 0.3%. The major indexes finished slightly lower on Wednesday as investors braced for the highly anticipated quarterly results from Nvidia (NVDA), which has become the poster child for the AI boom.
Shortly after the closing bell yesterday, Nvidia reported that its fiscal first-quarter revenue jumped 69% from the year-ago period to $44.06 billion, while CEO Jensen Huang said that demand remains “incredibly strong” and is likely to accelerate as AI adoption becomes mainstream.
Nvidia shares rose more than 5% in premarket trading, pacing broader gains for mega-cap tech companies. Shares of rival chip giant Broadcom (AVGO) were up nearly 3%, while Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) and Tesla (TSLA) each gained about 2%. Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG) and Meta Platforms (META) each rose about 1%.
Market participants are also closely tracking developments on the trade front after a federal court said late Wednesday that President Donald Trump had overstepped his authority by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose massive tariffs on leading U.S. trade partners. Uncertainty about trade policy has roiled financial markets in recent months, though the market has largely recovered from its early-April tariff-related swoon as Trump has appeared to soften his stance.
Shares of Best Buy (BBY) were down 3% this morning after the electronics retailer cut its outlook due to the expected impact of tariffs. Kohl’s (KSS) shares rose more than 2% after the department store chain posted better-than-expected quarterly results.
Among other noteworthy movers ahead of the bell, HP Inc. (HPQ) shares were down 8% after a disappointing quarterly report, while shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL) added 5% after the chip company reported earnings.
Bitcoin was at $108,600 in recent trading, up from an overnight low of $106,800. The digital currency hit an all-time high of $112,000 last week, its first record since just before Trump’s inauguration in January.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of consumer and corporate loans, was holding steady this morning at 4.48%. The yield moved as high as 4.63% last week, its highest level in more than three months, amid rising concerns about the federal deficit as the GOP tax and spending bill moved through Congress.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.2% at 99.65.
Gold futures were up 0.4% at $3,310 per ounce, rebounding from two straight days of declines, while West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 0.1% to $61.90 per barrel, gaining for the second day in a row.
