US stock futures rose on Thursday, setting the stage for new record highs. Investors welcomed several updates, including solid U.S. economic data, upbeat earnings from Micron ( MU ) and China’s more encouraging pledges to hear from Jerome Powell.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) rose 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) added 0.8%. Contracts led the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) up 1.5% amid a sharp spike in Micron’s shares.
Stocks are once again looking solidly positive, thanks to a double dose of optimism for the AI trade, the health of the US economy and China’s stimulus push that could reverberate through US markets.
Nvidia ( NVDA ) supplier Micron raised its next-quarter earnings forecast, citing strong demand for its memory chips used in AI data centers. Chip stocks Nvidia ( NVDA ), AMD ( AMD ), ASML ( ASML ), and STMMicro ( STM ) rose after the earnings report.
Also, the US government’s final update on second-quarter GDP growth beat Wall Street expectations, while weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in four months.
Meanwhile, China’s top leaders have signaled they are pulling out the stops to revive its ailing economy with fresh pledges to boost fiscal spending, end the asset crisis and support the stock market. A big advance in mainland shares has the CSI 300 (000300.SS) on track for its best week in a decade.
Aiding the upbeat mood were rising expectations of another jumbo interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. They are traders Price at 60% odds A 0.5% move at its November meeting, up from 40% a week ago.
Read More: What Fed Cuts Mean for Bank Accounts, CDs, Loans and Credit Cards
Investors await a statement from Fed Chair Powell to test that confidence, highlighted by a parade of central bank speakers on Thursday. Their comments will set the stage for Friday’s much-anticipated reading on the PCE index, the inflation gauge favored by the central bank.
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2024-09-26 18:26:39