Nasdaq-100 futures experienced an uptick on Thursday, driven by the latest earnings reports from Nvidia and other prominent technology firms, which enhanced market sentiment. Futures associated with the technology-focused index experienced an increase of 1%.S&P 500 futures increased by 0.4%.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average exhibited a slight decline. Nvidia shares surged 7% in premarket trading on Thursday, following its outperformance against analyst expectations and a robust revenue growth forecast. The chipmaker’s fiscal second-quarter revenue more than doubled, exceeding forecasts by its largest margin in two years.
Nvidia appears poised to disrupt its recent trend of experiencing stock declines, even in the face of stronger-than-expected earnings 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 associated with the semiconductor sector experienced a rally in pre-market trading, with Marvell Technology increasing by over 5%, while Micron and Arm both rose by more than 4%.
Salesforce rallied 12% in premarket trading after revenue exceeded Wall Street’s forecast for the second quarter. Okta surged over 19% prior to Thursday’s regular session following its performance that exceeded analyst expectations, driven by strong demand attributed to agentic AI. The three major indexes concluded Wednesday’s session with minimal variation. In addition to the plethora of earnings reports, traders are preparing for the commencement of the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which begins on Thursday.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 concluded the trading session down by 0.20%, whereas South Korea’s Kospi experienced an increase of 1.53%. Australia’s benchmark index experienced a decline of 0.98%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 closed up by 0.86%. European shares experienced a general decline on Thursday morning, although technology stocks defied this trend, rising by 1.5% as regional semiconductor shares surged in response to Nvidia’s earnings report.
