The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Thursday, with stocks likely to see further upside following the rally seen in the previous session.

Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from Facebook parent Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META).

Shares of Meta are surging by 8.8 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported better than expected second quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Restaurant chain Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) is also seeing substantial pre-market strength after reporting second quarter revenues that exceeded analyst estimates.

On the other hand, shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) may come under pressure after the drugmaker reported better than expected second quarter results but lowered its full-year sales guidance.

Stocks may also benefit from optimism about the outlook for interest rates after the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in almost a year in the week ended July 27th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 249,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 235,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 236,000.

With the bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 258,000 in the week ended August 5, 2023.

After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages all moved to the upside after ending Tuesday’s trading mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a particularly strong gain.

The Nasdaq soared 451.98 points or 2.6 percent to 17,599.40, more than offsetting the 1.3 percent slump seen during Tuesday’s session. The S&P 500 also jumped 85.86 points or 1.6 percent to 5,522.30, while the Dow rose 99.46 points or 0.2 percent to 40,842.79.

The early rally on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to some of the latest corporate earnings news from companies like Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD).

Shares of AMD surged by 4.4 percent after the chipmaker reported second quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Coffee giant Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) also saw significant strength after reporting fiscal third quarter earnings in line with estimates and maintaining its full-year guidance.

Shares of DuPont (NYSE:DD) also moved sharply higher after the chemical giant reported better than expected second quarter results.

On the other hand, shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) moved to the downside after the tech giant reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat expectations but disappointing cloud computing results.

Stocks continued to see significant strength in afternoon trading following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement.

While the Fed left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, minor changes to the accompanying statement may hint at future rate cuts.

Notably, the Fed said it is attentive to the risks to “both sides of its dual mandate” after previously saying it was “highly attentive to inflation risks.”

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during his post-meeting press conference that a rate cut in September would be “on the table” if economic data continues on its current bath.

The central bank’s next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for September 17-18, when investors widely expected the Fed to begin lowering interest rates.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, there is currently a 93.5 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point in September.

Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial rebound on the heels of the upbeat AMD earnings, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring by 7.0 percent after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in over two months.

Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Gold stocks also rallied amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.8 percent.

Telecom, networking and oil service stocks are also saw significant strength, while some weakness emerged among airline and banking stocks.