Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 4, 2022.
Source: NYSE
S&P 500 futures rose early Thursday, boosted by a jump in Nvidia shares as the chip giant posted record revenue and issued upbeat guidance.
S&P 500 futures climbed 0.75% and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.48%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 47 points, or 0.12%.
Nvidia shares popped 9% in after-hours trading after the chip company said total revenue rose a whopping 265% from a year ago, driven by its booming artificial intelligence business. Nvidia, which has become the fifth-largest company in the U.S. by market capitalization, also forecast another stellar revenue gain for the current quarter, even against elevated expectations for massive growth.
AI enthusiasm has powered the jaw-dropping rally in Nvidia, along with other Big Tech names, over the past year. The chipmaker’s blowout quarter could further boost confidence in the space that has benefited the broader market.
“Bears tried to hit NVDA and sell the news, but there isn’t much to dislike in this report,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. “There’s potentially a lot of growth ahead for this company with years of AI investment expected.”
The Nasdaq Composite could see a rebound from its three-day losing streak on Thursday. So far this week, the tech-heavy index has lost more than 1%.
On Wednesday, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed that central bank officials expressed caution about lowering interest rates too quickly and emphasized the importance of “carefully assessing” incoming data in judging whether inflation is moving down sustainably to 2%.
“Investors should know that the path of disinflation will likely be choppy, creating volatility in the rates market,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial.
On Thursday, investors will be watching for weekly jobless claims data and existing home sales figures from January.
Companies reporting earnings on Thursday include Moderna and Builders FirstSource in the morning, followed by Live Nation, Booking Holdings and Intuit after the close.
