U.S. Futures Surge on Nvidia’s Stellar Performance, Global Markets Respond Positively

On Thursday, U.S. futures were on the rise, driven by significant gains from Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) after market close, following the semiconductor giant’s announcement of surprisingly positive results and encouraging forecasts.

At 05:08 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) were up 73 points, or 0.19%. S&P 500 futures rose 1.14%, and Nasdaq-100 futures were up 2.01%. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds was at 4.307%.

In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for April was up 0.60% at $78.38 per barrel. Brent crude for April rose 0.51%, near $83.45 per barrel. Iron ore traded on the Dalian exchange fell 1.49% to $124.26 per metric ton. The benchmark iron ore for March on the Singapore Exchange rose 0.15% to $119.25.

On Thursday, the U.S. economic agenda will be full of important indicators. At 08:30 AM, the Chicago Fed will release the national activity index for January. At the same time, the Department of Labor will report last week’s unemployment insurance claims. At 09:45 AM, attention turns to the preliminary PMI indices from S&P Global, which will assess activity in the industrial and services sectors for February. The Department of Energy will reveal the position of oil stocks at 11:00 AM, while the NAR, at 10:00 AM, will bring January’s used residential real estate sales, highlighting trends in the real estate sector.

Additionally, five Fed members will participate in public events: Philip Jefferson (10 AM) and Patrick Harker (2 PM), and after the market closes, Lisa Cook and Neel Kashkari (5 PM), along with Christopher Waller (7.35 PM).

On Wednesday, U.S. markets experienced a volatile day, closing mixed after a late recovery. The Nasdaq ended lower for the third day, while the Dow and S&P 500 saw modest gains. Concerns about interest rates, fueled by the cautious minutes from the Fed, dominated the session. The hope for future rate cuts and optimism ahead of Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) results helped reverse some of the early losses.

Asian markets closed higher, with Tokyo breaking its all-time record, boosted by Nvidia’s success and Beijing’s measures to strengthen markets. The Nikkei rose 2.19%, reflecting optimism in technology and regional economic stability. In addition to Tokyo, Shanghai advanced 1.27%, Hong Kong 1.45%, Seoul 0.41%, and Australia saw a slight increase of 0.04%.

European markets are performing positively, focused on corporate results, economic indicators, and inflationary trends. The highlight is Rolls Royce (LSE:RR.) in London, whose shares soared over 7% after the aerospace group doubled its annual profits in 2023.

On the earnings front for Thursday, scheduled to present financial reports before the market opens are Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), Newmont (NYSE:NEM), Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA), Fiverr (NYSE:FVRR), Wayfair (NYSE:W), Cheniere (NYSE:LNG), Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD), among others.

After the market closes, reports from Block (NYSE:SQ), Carvana (NYSE:CVNA), Mercado Libre (NASDAQ:MELI), Nu Holdings (NYSE:NU), Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG), Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU), Live Nation (NYSE:LYV), Vale (NYSE:VALE), Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX), and more are awaited.