Futures pause after tech-led rally; Nvidia continues to climb By Reuters

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Johann M Cherian

(Reuters) -The and the were little changed on Thursday as investors awaited fresh data to gauge the U.S. labor market strength, while the Nasdaq futures inched higher as gains in AI-favorite Nvidia (NASDAQ:) boosted optimism around the tech sector.

A tech rally on Wednesday drove the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to all-time highs, as a string of weakening economic data boosted bets that the Federal Reserve could start easing policy sooner than previously expected.

Megacap tech stocks were the main driver of the rally, with the tech sector gaining nearly 2.6% as Treasury yields eased. Stocks including Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:), Microsoft (NASDAQ:) and Apple (NASDAQ:) were down between 0.04% and 0.3% in premarket trading.

However, chip maker Nvidia was up 1.5%, after crossing $3 trillion in market valuation in the previous session that saw it overtake Apple as the world’s second most valuable company.

Gains in Nvidia and other AI-related players have been the primary driver of Wall Street’s recent rally, with the chipmaker accounting for roughly a third of the S&P 500’s over 12% year-to-date gains, even as investors have grappled with worries about higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates.

“We anticipate the semiconductor-led AI rally will broaden in the second half of this year and beyond, and we continue like big tech and key AI segments such as GPUs, custom chips and foundries, and semi-cap equipment,” analysts at UBS wrote in a note.

On the macro front, May private payrolls data on Wednesday suggested an easing in labor market tightness, ahead of the crucial nonfarm payrolls report due Friday.

Traders now see a nearly 67% chance of a September rate reduction, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool, and have priced in about two cuts this year, as per data from LSEG.

Forecasters polled by Reuters also expect two cuts, but there is a significant risk that the Fed would opt for only one or none at all.

Data on weekly jobless claims data and April’s international trade figures are due later on Thursday.

At 7:08 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 18 points, or 0.05%, were up 0.5 points, or 0.01%, and were up 17.75 points, or 0.09%.

Among others, Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:) leapt 8.2% after beating expectations for first-quarter profit and revenue on Wednesday, as its China-based business helped offset slowdowns in North America.

U.S.-listed shares of Nio (NYSE:) dropped 7.2% after the Chinese electric vehicle maker posted a quarterly net loss and said it expected its EV deliveries in the second quarter to more than double from a year ago.

Victoria’s Secret lost 1.8% after posting lower first-quarter profit and revenue after markets closed Wednesday.

Five Below (NASDAQ:) slumped 15.8% after the discount store operator trimmed its annual net-sales forecast.

Sealed Air (NYSE:) rose 1.4% after brokerage Mizuho upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral”.