Wall Street futures pointed moderately higher Thursday morning after memory-chip maker Micron Technology issued strong fiscal fourth-quarter results and guidance. The report bolstered investor confidence that demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure is durable, providing support for chip and AI-related stocks in pre-market trading. In the futures, the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the Nasdaq inclined 0.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%. The VanEck Semiconductor fund, ticker SMH, traded up 1% before the opening bell.
Several factors tempered the overall sentiment in pre-market action. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures traded up 1.5% to $91.77 a barrel, while yields on 10-year US Treasuries inched up to 5.31%. In global markets, Asian exchanges traded mostly higher overnight on tech-sector strength, while European bourses tracked lower during midday trading on the continent.
Accenture shares traded up more than 17% in pre-bell trading after the consulting company reported strong fiscal fourth-quarter results and upbeat guidance in the morning hours. Economic data released Thursday showed that US-based employers announced 43,281 job cuts in September, down from 52,881 in August and 54,064 in the same month last year, according to the monthly Challenger Job Cut Report.
The economic calendar for the day includes several key releases. The weekly jobless claims bulletin is scheduled for 8:30 am ET. At 9:45 am, the S&P Global final US manufacturing purchasing managers index for September will be released. Both the September ISM manufacturing index and the construction spending bulletin for August are set to log at 10 am, while the weekly EIA natural gas report files at 10:30 am.
Multiple Federal Reserve officials are slated to speak on Thursday, including Vice Chair Philip Jefferson, Governors Christopher Waller, Michelle Bowman and Lisa Cook, New York President John Williams, and Dallas President Lorie Logan. In pre-market action, Bitcoin traded at $83,833, and spot gold commanded $4,197 an ounce.